


Dropped Picks Broken Sticks

by topidolharuka



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 03:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4463117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/topidolharuka/pseuds/topidolharuka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vargas International Summer Camp was the Ivy League of summer camps. Every year wealthy parents sent their talented children to study with the best of the bests. Matthew Williams was neither exceedingly wealthy or exceedingly talented but somehow ended up studying there on one special condition. That special condition was Gilbert Beilschmidt. Rewrite of previous story by same name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. This is a revamp of a story I wrote 5 years ago. Obviously a lot has changed but I feel bad about leaving it hanging where it was so I decided to rewrite it.

Dear Diary,

Do you ever notice how it is a common trope in media to have a poor intellectual scholarship student enter a school where they are surrounded by rich and attractive assholes and somehow despite all their differences they end up becoming intimate friends and all of their dreams come true? People are obsessed with finding an easy fix. Maybe if you hang out around rich people, you too will become rich. Wealth by osmosis. If you ask me, I think that is all a load of crap. I reject the notion that such a phenomenon even exists. So then why am I, a middle class intellectual scholarship student, working so hard to go to the most elite summer camp in the country to spend an entire summer with these rich and attractive assholes.

I want to make it clear that I am not looking for an easy fix in all of this. Nothing in my life has ever been really easy. Not that it matters but I've always sort of done everything on my own. For the first year of my life I had my parents undivided attention. Then just three days after my first birthday, my younger brother was born. The Golden Boy. Right from the beginning he proved to be far more needy than I was. Which is fine. I don't really need anyone waiting on me hand and foot, nor do I want it. Anything I got in life I got by my own hand and that's how I want to be. I don't blame Alfred for anything. With all of the alone time I've had, I've gotten a chance to work on things for myself.

When I was four my parents bought me my first violin. From what my mother tells me I was always humming little tunes or singing when I thought no one was watching me. Of course, once I knew that there was a person there I got too embarrassed and stopped. She and my father felt that by giving me an instrument to channel my musical ability through that maybe I would be able to overcome some of that fear. They were only partially correct. Nevertheless I have continued playing the violin for the past twelve and a half years and it somehow got me a scholarship to the most prestigious summer camp in the country.

Vargas International Summer Camp is the Ivy League of summer camps. Most of the people who go to the camp are the children of families with more money than they know what to do with who decide that, rather than spending quality time with their children over the summer, it would be easier to just send them off to a private facility in upstate New York. But the education there is like nothing else. Many incredibly talented individuals save up to get to go study at HISC or get to go there on a scholarship, all of them far more talented than I am. I knew that the chances of me getting a scholarship were pretty slim until I got a letter in the mail telling me about a special "work study" opportunity at the camp. The fact that the words "work study" were in quotation marks was a little bit suspicious but beggars can't be choosers. I'm going to camp.

Matthew Williams- 6/12/15

"Mattie, we are going to be at the airport in, like, 10 minutes and then I won't get to see you all summer!" Matthew's brother, Alfred, complained. "Put down your dumb journal and talk to me."

"In the almost 16 years of knowing me you have historically not shown a lot of interest in chatting with me. Why is it that now, as I am about to leave for the summer, you suddenly won't shut up?" Matthew softly retorted.

"I do too talk to you. You just only want to talk about boring things so it isn't fun. But you're going to be gone for so long I won't get to talk to you at all. And on my birthday of all days!"

"Might I remind you that I will also be gone for my birthday. And I'm going to camp, not prison. This is a prestigious camp for the wealthy and talented, there is no way they don't have wifi."

"It isn't the same! What if I make a really important discovery in the middle of the night and you aren't online. If you were at home I could just go into your room and tell you in person."

"First of all, and I know I have told you this before, stop coming into my room while I am sleeping. While these discoveries may seem like major finds for you, I would prefer to wait until morning to find out which celebrity you think is secretly an alien or how the xbox one is watching you while you sleep. No one wants to watch you sleep Alfred. You snore like a lawnmower. Secondly I have my cell phone you can always just give me a call if you want to talk, provided it is within normal daylight hours."

"Your brother is going to miss you Matthew, can you try to be a little nicer to him." Their mother cut in. Matthew and Alfred had a tendency to butt heads but usually their arguments would end as harmlessly while they started so it was best to let them just duke it out. Still, they were just about to reach the airport and once they dropped Matthew off it would get goodbye until mid August.

"I'm sorry Al. I know you mean well. But I'm going to be going off to college in just over a year and then you'll be gone too. We need to get used to being a part." Matthew had his heart set on one day being to move to New York and study journalism at Columbia University. The chances of his brother ever joining him in the big apple were slim to none.

"Just promise me you'll call, okay?"

Goodbyes ran a little bit long once they actually reached the airport. By the time Matthew made it to the terminal the flight was already boarding. The plane was crowded but quiet enough that Matthew was able to catch some shut eye. By the time he woke up, the plane had already landed and everyone had gotten off. The people sitting next to him had forgotten that he was even there and the flight attendant had to wake him up. It was justifiably embarrassing. A taxi had been arranged to take him to the camp with some other out of state campers but had left without him. By the time he finally got a taxi and made it to the camp, the opening ceremonies had already began.

The campus was huge. Despite the size, it did look surprisingly like a normal summer camp. Looks could be deceiving and from what he knew of the pictures they had released online, the insides of the buildings were more luxurious than anything he was used to. Still, as he stood at the main gates of the camp, taking everything in for the first time, it truly felt like he was at camp.

That is until out of nowhere a white blob hit him and knocked him to the ground. Typical.


	2. Dealing with the Devil

_Dear Diary, ___

___So far camp is just a complete cluster fuck. I don’t even know how to describe my experience here, I am honestly at a loss for words. The camp is unlike anything I have ever seen before; it looks like it would be a normal summer camp but, as it turns out, looks are deceiving. I say this because while it may seem like a normal summer camp on the outside, everything is really weird. The outsides of all the buildings look like what you would expect, complete with rustic wooden exteriors, but the inside is really luxurious and modern. The cabin I'm staying in is large enough to house 8 people but instead houses 4. And don’t get me started on my roommates. I’m starting to wonder if I really belong here. What if this was all a big mistake? Anyway I have a lot of tell you so let’s start at the beginning. ____ _

____It took a moment for Matthew to realize what had happened to him. His brother, aspiring athlete and all around asshole, had on many occasions since the time of their youth tackled Matthew to the ground. His idea of brotherly bonding typically involved pain and not a lot of foresight. This time, however, the man on top of Matthew was not his brother._ _ _ _

____“Um excuse me, can you please get off of me?” Matthew squeaked out to the equally dazed young man pinning him to the ground._ _ _ _

____“Oh sorry man, I didn’t see you there.” The guy said. He had platinum blonde hair and was substantially more built than Matthew. He was certainly good looking, even Matthew could tell that, which made him very self conscious. Matthew typically didn't do very well around attractive people._ _ _ _

____“Oh my god Gilbert watch where you’re going.” A female voice came from behind them. “I am so sorry about my friend’s stupidity. Let me help you up.”_ _ _ _

____The girl pushed the other guy out of the way and reached out her hand offer Matthew some help. Matthew took the girl’s hand and slowly brought himself back to his feet. The blonde guy was on his own in getting back up and was clearly disgruntled about it. “So we're ‘friends’ now? Here’s the thing Liz, I wouldn’t have run into this guy if you hadn’t been chasing me so really you’re the one at fault here.”_ _ _ _

____“Well if you had elected to attend the opening ceremonies like you were supposed to then I wouldn’t have to chase you. I’m just trying to help your father out, next time take responsibility for your own damn actions.” The girl replied with a smile on her face but disdain in her voice. Clearly these two had a history and Matthew wanted nothing more than to not be involved in it._ _ _ _

____“Give me a break I just want to have some fun. This campus is going to be crawling with nerds I just want a chance to walk around before the babysitter my dad hired shows up. Is that too much to ask for?” Matthew had an exceptional ability to turn almost completely invisible to anyone who wasn’t directly talking to him. Most people forgot he was there within a matter of seconds and this situation seemed to be no different. Matthew debated asking them where the main office was on campus but decided against it as the two strangers began getting into a thick debate about the boy’s trouble making tendencies. He grabbed his stuff and set off to meet up with his benefactor._ _ _ _

____\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_ _ _ _

____Matthew’s benefactor was a man by the name of Leon Beilschmidt. Descendant of a prominent German noble family he was the president and founder of Beilschmidt Music, a music production company that represented some of the top artists of the day. He was also apparently good friends with the president of the camp and donated more money to the camp than all the other donors combined. He was also an incredibly scary individual._ _ _ _

____Mr. Beilschmidt wasn’t too much taller than Matthew but had an air about him that made him far more intimidating than he needed to be. Aesthetically he reminded Matthew of a Legolas Greenleaf who hadn’t smiled in years and hated everyone he had ever come into contact with on a deep personal level. All in all he looked like someone who should not be working with children._ _ _ _

____“I’m not a big fan of children.” The older man broke the silence, as if reading Matthew’s mind. “I do not understand them and would rather they just acted like small adults.”_ _ _ _

____“That’s, um, very. . . interesting sir.” Matthew’s voice trailed up at the end as if he was asking a question._ _ _ _

____“Yes. Interesting indeed. But I do love my children, as difficult as they may be.” Leon continued. “Which brings me to the reason I brought you out here today. The reason why I am paying such a large sum of money to have you go to camp here. Now my oldest son is a bit of a trouble maker. Does what he wants without thinking about the consequences for himself or others. Sound like anyone you know?”_ _ _ _

____Matthew immediately thought of his brother Alfred. “Yes, but how did you know about my brother?”_ _ _ _

____“Well you did mention him in your personal essay for the scholarship. Of course I did take it upon myself to do a little bit of extra research to see if you were suitable.” He had an excellent private investigator. “Now my son Gilbert is a little bit of a handful you see. For most of the year I am able to keep him under control at school however summer is a bit more difficult. Of course I could have left him at home but imagine if someone gave your brother a black card and the entire island of Manhattan to play with.”_ _ _ _

____“That would, um, not be advisable sir.” Matthew stammered out. He was beginning to wonder if it was really worth it to come to this camp._ _ _ _

____“What I need from you is to just watch over my son. Try to keep him out of trouble or at least in a manageable amount of trouble. I was young once too, I know what it like to want to go out and party and drink. That isn’t the problem. I would just rather not deal with the consequences of my son getting kicked out of my, er, friend’s facility. I know this may seem like it’s a lot but I can assure you it will be worth your while. I noticed on your application you were looking at attending Columbia University by chance.” The scowl on Leon’s face softened as he moved from introductions to the negotiation process. He was a seasoned business man after all._ _ _ _

____“That is correct sir.”_ _ _ _

____“Yes well I myself am a graduate of Columbia, go Lions. Provided everything goes well this summer I do have some pull with the admissions board there. I could potentially. . . help you out a bit with your application process.” Suddenly everything seemed like it was worth it again. While Matthew was not the most persuasive person in the world he had been able to keep Alfred out of some pretty sticky situations in the past and it wasn’t like he could really refuse at this point. He was already at the camp. “Does that sound agreeable?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes sir, it does.” Matthew may had just signed a deal with the devil, but the deal he made was truly one that he couldn’t pass up._ _ _ _

____“Wonderful. Do you have any other questions?” Leon stood up as he spoke, as if to usher Matthew out the door. Certainly this little exchange had taken far too much time to go through and Mr. Beilschmidt was a very busy man._ _ _ _

____“Just one question.” Matthew waited for a signal from the other to continue the question. “Why would you choose me?”_ _ _ _

____“Well Mr. Williams it is actually a pretty simple. I needed somebody and you fit the bill.” The answer given was not entirely satisfying for Matthew but it was clear he was not going to get anything better. “If that is all I do have a meeting with the president of the camp to get to. It has been a pleasure meeting you Mr. Williams. We will be in contact.”_ _ _ _

____\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_ _ _ _

____It took Matthew a while to get everything checked in. His baggage had already been brought to his cabin and the only thing left for him to do was find the cabin himself. It was already well past a reasonable hour to eat dinner, and while his mother did make sure to include a copious amount of things to snack on in his carry on bag, he wasn’t sure if it would be enough to tide him over until morning. Matthew was so preoccupied with thoughts of food it wasn’t until he was standing in front of the his cabin that he realized he had no idea what to say to his new roommates._ _ _ _

____He stood in front of the first door for a good fifteen minutes before he finally worked up the courage to open up the door. Maybe they were all so tired from the first day of activities nobody would try to question him. Besides there was a cloud of mosquitos beginning to form around the cabin and if he didn’t make it inside soon there was a high chance he would be eaten alive._ _ _ _

____As he began to reach out to grab the door handle someone on the inside opened the door before he could get to it. “Okay this is getting a bit ridiculous. We’ve been watching you for the past ten minutes. If there is something that you want please get it over we all have things to do.” A man with shoulder length golden blonde hair opened the door._ _ _ _

____“That’s not fair! I still had five minutes left on my bet!” A tan man with short brown hair yelled from inside the cabin. It appeared that Matthew was not going to be able to give his introduction on his own terms._ _ _ _

____“Shut up Tony he wasn’t going to come in anyway. If I just left him there he would have been bit to death by mosquitos. Have a heart.” The blond began to argue with the man inside the cabin. It gave Matthew just enough time to figure out something to say._ _ _ _

____“Whatever cabrón you still owe me $50.”_ _ _ _

____“I owe you absolutely nothing. You owe me money.”_ _ _ _

____“I would have won the bet if you hadn’t jumped the gun.”_ _ _ _

____“Jumped the gun? It has already been long enough. You’re just a sore loser.”_ _ _ _

____“Um excuse me?” Matthew finally interrupted. “I, um. . . I would like. . .er, um. . . I. . . live here.”_ _ _ _

____The two boys looked at each other and then back at Matthew. A knot grew in the back of his throat. He could just tell that the others were not thrilled at the idea of having him as a roommate. “Hey Antonio, go grab Gilbert. We got ourselves another one.”_ _ _ _

____Real fucking smooth Matthew. Real fucking smooth._ _ _ _


	3. The Interview

“So Matthew, tell me a bit about yourself.” As far as interviews go this one was one of the more unpleasant interviews Matthew had been subjected to. It was more of an interrogation than anything else, as if Matthew had committed a crime but was the only one who didn’t know what the fuck he did.

“Um, well my name is Matthew Williams. I’m, uh, going into my senior year of high school. I play the violin. What else do you need to know?” Matthew stuttered a bit as he made it through his words without too much difficulty. 

“Well considering we are going to be living together I am going to need a little bit more than that to go off of. Let’s start with where you are from.” Gilbert Beilschmidt questioned. In a twisted turn of events the very man that had tackled Matthew to the ground earlier that day had turned out the be the troublemaking son he was supposed to look after. He also seemed to be the leader of the little gang of infuriatingly attractive future trust fund babies that Matthew would soon be living with. 

“Oh um that’s a little complicated.” Gilbert looked at him skeptically. “What I mean is, uh, I was born in Montreal so I guess I’m Canadian. . . but we moved to Texas when I was just a baby so I’m also American too. But I don’t live in Texas now, er, my mother- she’s Canadian- felt we were too far from home so my parents settled on Minnesota which is where I live now. That was too much information, wasn’t it.”

“Montreal?” The blonde man that had initially greeted Matthew at the door cut in. From what Matthew had gathered listening to the other’s talk this man was named Francis and apparently was a lot better at making realistic bets than the last roommate Antonio. “Parlez-vous français?"

Matthew’s mother had been speaking French to him and his brother since they were small and while Alfred never quite got the hang of the language, Matthew was confident enough in his language skills to answer “oui un peu.”

“I approve of this kid. He can hang with us.” Francis announced, patting Matthew on the lower back. The gesture was both odd and uncomfortable but apparently was not out of the ordinary for the other men in the room.

“God Francis why are you so fucking easy?” Gilbert glared at the him. Evidently Francis was ruining his attempt at a cool interrogation scene.

“Is that joke about me or my sex life because either way the answer is yes.”

“Do you have any siblings Matthew?” The last of the trio asked. He seemed a bit less intense than the rest of the trio. 

“Uh yes. I have a younger brother named Alfred. He’s, um, not here right now. I mean he doesn’t go to this camp. He’s back in Minnesota.” Matthew was not doing well on the conversation part of socialization that day. Or the socialization part of socialization. At that point he really just wanted to go to be and try again tomorrow but unfortunately that didn’t seem like much of an option.

“Y’know what I kind of got that.” Antonio could tell that Matthew was a bit frightened by the whole situation. It would almost be hilarious to him if it wasn’t so sad. And while he had made him lose his bet Matthew felt no ill will towards the shorter blonde boy.”You can calm down bro. I don’t have anything against you so if the other guys are cool with everything then I’m cool too.”

Two done, one to go. But unlike the other guys Gilbert did have a reason to dislike Matthew. Matthew was clearly just another babysitter his father had hired to spoil all of his fun. Gilbert did not like that. “Well you guys aren’t sharing a room with him so your votes don’t count as much as mine do.”

“I wasn’t aware my rooming assignment was up for debate.” Matthew interjected, getting a little annoyed at the prospect that he would have to prove that he was cool enough to hang with some spoiled rich kid he really had no desire to hang out with anyway. All he had to do is make sure he didn’t get arrested, that didn’t mean they had to be friends. “Listen I’ve had a long day and would really appreciate access to my bedroom which I’m entitled to as much as you are. I’m not looking to get in the way of all your fun, just to keep you out of jail or the hospital.If you can’t put up with that then you have bigger problems than some Minnesotan square cramping your style.”

Gilbert looked pleased. “Wow looks like someone grew a pair of balls. I respect that. I will admit that this conversation has been a lot of take and not a lot of give. Why don’t you try asking me a question.”

“Alright. . . um, are also in the music department?” While Matthew did not get exactly what he wanted which was to go to his room and answer the 50 text messages he has from his family the notion that he would be able to take some of the attention off of himself was a welcomed one. As for Gilbert, Gilbert just loved attention.

“Are you fucking kidding me of course I am. Just look at me I am totally a rock star in the making. Besides my dad pretty much owns the entire music industry in this country so I’m pretty much a shoo in to get a record deal once I graduate high school.” Gilbert’s father had made no such promise to this effect however Gilbert clinged to the idea that he could skip college and go straight to being a rock and roll drummer with every misguided fiber he had in his being. “Now it’s my turn to ask a question. So are you one of those boring stick in the muds that only plays the violin?”

“Well violin is my main focus but I can also play viola if need be. Um, most of the string instruments are pretty similar so I can even play cello and guitar decently well.” Alfred had convinced their parents to buy Matthew a guitar once for his birthday. He was convinced it would make his older brother just a bit cooler. It didn’t. Nevertheless Matthew enjoyed the opportunity to explore a new instrument.

The three other boys looked at each other as if they were talking about Matthew in a language only they can understand. “That is. . .interesting. So do you have any interests besides violin. Any career goals?”

“Hang on a second I thought it was my turn to ask a question?” Not that Matthew really had a new question in mind.

“Oh that’s cute. You actually thought that this would be an equal exchange. No, I get at least two questions for every question you ask. It’s easier this way because I’m really good questions.” Gilbert looked to his friends for approval. They both nodded instinctively although if they were being completely honest had stopped listening to the conversation once it stopped involving them.

“Fine.” Matthew conceded. “Um, I enjoy playing hockey. I suppose I do kind of like writing too. . . I don’t know. As for career goals I, uh, would hope to one day be a journalist.”

“Journalism? No offense dude but you don’t really seem like someone who is fit for tv?” The idea of someone like Matthew trying to reporting a story on a well known news network. Somebody who could barely carry an, albeit hostile, simple conversation would be a trainwreck on national television.

“Oh, no. I don’t mean television. Sorry, I um guess I was unclear.” Matthew began to get flustered. “I’m not really good with spoken words. I was more talking about written stories. I know that print media is sort of dying out but there is still a market for articles on online news sites and blogs.”

“Did you say blogs?” Gilbert immediately perked up. “Dude I have a blog! Yeah I’m pretty awesome there are a lot of people who read my blog. You should totally check it out!” 

“I mean yeah I guess if you send me a link I’ll take a look at it. . .” Matthew halfheartedly replied, not entirely excited to read the blog of someone who, in his experience, just seemed to be a huge asshole. But if it would make his relationship with the other more bearable then he would do it.

It was then that Gilbert remembered that he was supposed to dislike Matthew. He shouldn’t be exchanged blogs with his nanny. He was supposed to be cool and intimidating and show that Matthew couldn’t tell him what to do. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “I mean, I guess if you want to. It’s pretty popular so it’s not like one person would really make a difference.” Fuck it, Gilbert couldn’t be too angry at him. He looked like a puppy, completely harmless. It wasn’t like he could really effect Gilbert’s life that much. “Whatever though, I guess it is cool if you stay here. Just don’t get in my way.”

“Are you two done yet? As lovely as this has been I have a date with a bottle of Domaine de Canton and two gorgeous brunettes from the general department so I will be taking my leave.” Francis added as he walked to the door. Despite his limited role in the conversation there appeared to be an unspoken rule that he and Antonio had to be there until Gilbert had finished. “Adieu.”

“He’s so pretentious” Matthew heard Antonio mutter under his breath. “Domaine de Canton isn’t even fucking French.”

Something told Matthew that they weren’t talking about bottles of soda. While he may have passed the first challenge, there were still going to be plenty of them awaiting him as the summer continued on. At least for the evening he could relax, courses started the next afternoon.


	4. Every Cheeseburger Is Worth It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Literally has nothing to do with the title

Vargas International was split into five distinct category: music, visual arts, athletics, science, and general. Given the role of the Beilschmidt family in the camp’s finances, the music department was one of the bigger departments. As a result, there was a long standing rivalry between the music department and the athletics department. In order to diffuse the tension between the groups, the camp had that year instated a new class policy where campers had to take 2 of their 6 courses over the summer in another department.

The first day of camp was a half day with classes starting in the afternoon. While most students picked up their class schedules at the opening ceremonies, there were a handful of students who had to wander over to the office in the morning grab their schedules before it started.

“You don’t have to follow me. I’m told my dad that I’d at the very least attend all my classes for the first week.” Gilbert grumbled as he and Matthew walked to the main offices at the center of the camp. While Gilbert was not planning on skipping any of his new classes, he did skip the opening ceremonies and therefore had to start his day earlier than he would like. 

“Leave him alone Gilbert, he’s just trying to get his schedule.” Gilbert’s childhood friend Elizaveta Hedervary replied. In her attempt to get Gilbert to attend the opening ceremonies, she had ended up missing them herself. “Sorry again for this moron. Seriously, don’t let him drag you down with his negative attitude, although he already knocked you over yesterday.”

“I already said I was sorry! Jesus Liz what more do you want from me!” Despite the fact that they were currently talking about him, Matthew had not been able to get a word edgewise since they began their trip.

“When did you say you were sorry? You didn’t even remember that you ran into him until I told you.” From what Matthew could gather Elizaveta and Gilbert argued a lot. They had known each other since childhood and had a history of getting into fights at the most inopportune moments.

“It really is no big deal. These things happen.” Matthew finally got in. 

“I shouldn’t have to apologize to him anyway. He works for my dad and therefore works for me. I can do what I want with him.” They continued to ignore him. The two went on arguing until they reached the building. Matthew was very eager to grab his class schedule. The idea of spending the entire summer taking specialized classes in music was very appealing to him.

Schedule: Williams, Matthew

MWF  
10:00-11:30: Music Theory  
1:30-3:00: Orchestra  
3:30-5:00: Improvisation on Strings

TR  
9:30-11:30: 20th Century Music  
1:30-3:30: Beginner Dance

S  
8:00-12:00: Experimental Biology

Beginner Dance? He hadn’t signed up for that class. Matthew was horrible at dancing, of course it was just his luck that he would be forced to take a dance class three times a week. Maybe if he got injured he could get out of it.

“Hey it looks like we have Improv on Strings and 20th Century Music together.” Elizaveta peered onto his paper. “What about you Gilbert?”

“Shit we have a lot of classes together.” Gilbert looked at him suspiciously, as if his father had put them in class together just so Matthew could keep an eye on him. “Music Theory, 20th Century Music, and Beginner Dance.”

“Damn I’m in a different Music Theory class. Class isn’t as fun when you have to take it with people you don’t know.” Elizaveta lamented.

“Um, no offense but we don’t really know each other either.” Matthew pointed out. Not that he minded, but it was unfamiliar for him to have someone particularly excited to spend time with him. Besides Alfred, that is, but he got excited every time the mail came and probably shouldn’t be counted.

“Oh hey, is that Arthur?” Gilbert ignored them “Yo caterpillar brows! What’s your schedule like?”

A shorter man with dirty blonde hair turned around in response to Gilbert’s cry. He was decently attractive but dear god those eyebrows looks big enough to host their own ecosystem. “Don’t call me that! Why on earth would I want to compare schedules with you. I don’t even like you.”

“Oh quit playing man everybody likes me.” Gilbert’s arrogance preceded him. He grabbed Arthur’s paper without much second thought. “It looks like we also have Music Theory together.”

“Of fucking course everyone has Music Theory with each other except me.” Elizaveta complained.

“You’re taking Basic Cooking? That’s so lame!” Arthur snatched his sheet back, clearly embarrassed. Matthew gave him a sympathetic look.

“Don’t you have anyone else to bother.” Arthur looked away to hide his red face. Matthew could tell that Arthur’s cooking ability must be a pretty sore subject.

“Oh shit I almost forgot. I’m meeting up with the boys for some lunch before class.” The boys referring to Antonio and Francis. “Well later losers, I’m going to hang with the cool kids.”

Not long after Gilbert left Elizaveta also had to leave to meet up with some friends. Matthew and Arthur awkwardly stood next to each other, trying to figure out something to say to each other. “So. . .” Arthur started “I haven’t seen you here before. How do you know Gilbert?”

“Oh! It’s, uh, kind of a long story.” Matthew didn’t exactly want to say that he was Gilbert’s babysitter but didn’t know what else to say. “What about you? Have you two been friends long?”

“I wouldn’t call us friends.” Matthew kicked himself internally. That was obviously a stupid question. “We went to school together back when I lived in New York. I guess he thought it was fun to pick on be and hasn’t stopped.”

“Is he really that much of a bully?” Just Matthew’s luck to get stuck looking after the guy voted most likely to make his camp experience miserable. Not that he should really be complaining about his luck, considering he had the ability to go to the camp and the possible rewards were better than he could obtain with just his own ability.

“I wouldn’t say he’s a bully.” That’s a relief. “It’s more like he thinks that this is his world and the rest of us are just things for him to play with.” Less of a relief. “He’s an annoying little bugger, but once you become boring to him he’ll mostly leave you alone.”

“And you haven’t reached that level yet?” Matthew questioned, interested to get to know more about Arthur. Of all the people he had met at the camp so far, Arthur seemed like the person he was most likely to get along with.

Arthur smiled “Well I guess I’m just too bloody interesting.” They stood in silence for a while. “I understand if you have other plans but do you want to grab lunch?”

“I don’t have plans!” Matthew exclaimed. “Sorry, that was a little loud. I mean I would very much enjoy grabbing lunch with you.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew’s first day of classes was pretty decent. Since the classes weren’t graded the format was a little bit different than the traditional syllabus day as they went straight into the learning. They had already received sheet music to read in orchestra and in his improv class began learning the basics of jazz improvisation. Gilbert and the others were doing something in the main living area of the cabin so Matthew had his room to himself. He decided it would be a good time to facetime his brother. 

“I still can’t believe that they are making you take class at camp!” Alfred was more of a hands on learner and hated having to sit in a classroom for 8 hours a day trying to learn by example from somebody else. “It’s just like school.”

“Well that’s sort of the main point of the camp,” Matthew attempted to explain “People come here to get an education in whatever field they are interested in. And these classes are made to be really fun and hands on. For example in my improvisation on strings class you don’t just focus on one instrument but everyone gets a chance to play around with a bunch of different instruments.”

“No offense Mattie but that sounds incredibly boring.” This sort of thing was obviously not Alfred’s cup of tea- or coffee rather because according to him tea was just for hipsters and British people.

Obviously the explanation bit was not going to be overly effective. “Well they cater to the needs of the individual camper, so I really guess it just depends on what you are looking for.”

“Whatever” Alfred was clearly bored with that line of conversation. “Let’s talk about how you have to take a dance class. GOD I would pay good money to watch you try and dance.”

“I can’t be any worse than you are.” To be fair Alfred wasn’t necessarily a bad dancer, he was just a very enthusiastic dancer. When the music started playing he would go all out; he had once punched Matthew clear in the face when trying to bust a move. While Matthew was never really angry about the situation he did take every chance he got to remind Alfred of what happened.

“Alright so we’ll have a dance off when you get back.” Alfred grinned, showing off a set of perfectly straight pearly whites. Matthew had to admit that his brother was a good looking guy. As unapologetically dopey as he was Alfred was also a handsome and charming young fellow and would surely blend right in with the rest of the pretty people at the camp. Matthew on the other hand, felt more the last bag of potatoes left at the grocery market that no one wants because they are small and a bit bit bruised up.

Still, Matthew had a tendency to get caught up in the negatives. Regardless of what anyone else thought, he did belong there. He had worked hard for the opportunity to attend this summer camp and he would be damned if he let a couple of assholes ruin it for him. Besides, it was only the second day of camp and he had already made two friends. I usually takes him a lot longer than that so statistically it seemed like he was more accepted socially at Vargas International than he was in his home town.

The conversation shifted from Matthew's life to Alfred's life. One of Alfred's best qualities was his ability to find even the dullest moments in life absolutely charming. He went on and on about how he went to a wonderful new restaurant and had the “best cheeseburger he had ever had in his life” which is something he says about every cheeseburger he ever eats. When confronted on this he simply responds “they are all worth it.”

Just as he began to describe in great deal the delicate way the cheese melted Matthew heard a loud noise from the other room. “What the hell was that?” Alfred shouted through the screen of Matthew’s ipad. The familiar sound of an electric guitar tuning and a pair of drumsticks tentatively pounding on a set of drums flowed through the walls of the room Matthew and Gilbert shared with ease. One way or another this would be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: There were a lot of details that went into the chapter that were not actually included. I made a side blog on tumblr called dpbsextras where I’m posting any additional information that was used to make the chapters such as class schedules or floorplans.


	5. Where Are All the Girls At

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This chapter is the introduction of the subplot. In rewriting the story I decided to keep the original as a character for the same reason as I originally planned. Given that these characters do represent countries I would rather not ruffle any feathers by making one person’s country the antagonist. I picked Michelle for Seychelle’s name because that seems to be a commonly used name and Emma for Belgium because that was on that Himaruya likes.

“Alright let’s get down to business girls.” Elizaveta spoke as she sat down at her lunch table. It was only the second day of class but she was already looking to make plans for the talent competition at the end of the camp. “We’re gonna have to practice long and hard if we’re going to win this thing this year.”

“I don’t think practice is the issue” Elizaveta’s best friend Natalia Arlofskaya argued. Despite not being a member of the music department she was arguably one of the best guitarists there. Her mother was a principal dancer in the national Belarusian ballet before she was fell in love with one of the richest donors and moved from the stage to the penthouse. While Natalia’s main focus at the camp was dance, she did keep music as a close second. “We just need to play a better song, no offense Chelles.”

“Just because you say ‘no offense’ it doesn’t make it any less offensive.” Michelle Mancham, or Chelles for short, was not only the bassist for their band but also wrote all the songs. 

“Yes it does. That’s the whole reason people say ‘no offense.’” Natalia for the most part spoke her mind. It rubbed a lot of people the wrong way but was precisely the reason Elizaveta wanted to be friends with her in the first place.

“I just don’t see why we need to be so focused on winning.” The fourth and final member of the band, Emma Densen, cut in to break the tension. Elizaveta, Natalia, and Michelle all had such strong personalities, a more laid back person like Emma was often times needed to keep the peace. “It’s about the art, not about the prize.”

“Winning doesn’t just mean getting a prize.” Elizaveta explained. “It means proving to everyone this isn’t just some silly thing we do in our free time. It’s about breaking down the musical glass ceiling that prevents female artists from getting the same recognition and respect as their male counterparts.”

“Cool speech there Liz but we all know that you just want to beat Anna Sophia and her group of lackies into the dust. Not that I disagree with doing that but let’s be honest here.” Anna Sophia Hughs had been Elizaveta’s rival since childhood. The Herdervary family manufactured and sold cars but the Hugh’s family manufactured and sold luxury cars. Elizaveta had solid grades but Anna Sophia was top of the class at their New York private school. And Anna Sophia had also won the talent competition three years running.

“Who even cares about Anna Sophia. Yeah she’s pretty and talented but her personality sucks and she’s also a total hypocrite. On the whole you are so much better than her.” Emma interjected. “Tell her Roderich.”

“Yes darling, you are quite wonderful.” Elizaveta’s boyfriend Roderich Edelstein didn’t even bother to look up from his book as he responded. Roderich and Elizaveta had been pretty much dating since elementary school and while he often times seemed complacent in the relationship, there was no one he cared for more than her. His personality contrasted greatly with his cousin Gilbert’s.

As if summoned like an unholy beast, Anna Sophia appeared out of nowhere and waltzed over to Elizaveta’s table, her loyal minions in tow. “Oh if it isn’t my dear old friend Lizzy.”

“Well speak of the devil. It’s always a pleasure to see your shining face Anna.” Despite their seemingly kind words and smiling faces, the tension surrounding the two girls was thick enough you could cut it with a knife.

“I’m a bit surprised to see you here.” Anna Sophia replied. “I thought for sure your company would go out of business and you wouldn’t be able to come this year.”

“You know, despite the fact that you say this every year my family’s company is still alive and well.”

“Wishful thinking I guess.”

“What, no hello to the rest of us.” Natalia hated Anna Sophia almost as much as Elizaveta did, but Anna Sophia seemed to care less about her, which infuriated Natalia beyond all reason.

Anna Sophia smiled sweetly. “Oh dear, I didn’t notice any of you at all. Well I probably shouldn’t stay too long anyway. There are still so many people eager to see me, I can’t let them down.”

Anna Sophia left as quickly as she had arrived. She had clearly just come over to ruffle some feathers but was quite effective in her methods. Even Emma seemed upset as she replied “you know what? Let’s beat that bitch into the dust this year.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the other side of the dining hall Matthew rested his head down on the table in defeat. His roommates’ band practice had run until 2 AM. Matthew was naturally an early riser and although he didn’t have class until 9:30 that day he still woke up at 7 as he did every morning. On top of everything else he needed more than 5 hours of sleep maximum to keep sane.

“If I were you I would just tell them to shut the hell up and let you get some sleep.” Arthur had advised. He and Matthew had most of their classes together and had ended up quickly developing a decent friendship. Matthew had been invited to join Arthur and his band of misfits for meals.

“That may be easy for you, but pretty much impossible for me to do.” Matthew still had difficulties talking to his roommates. It almost seemed like they had forgotten he was there for the most part.

“Well you have to make a choice Matthew otherwise you’re going to keep on losing sleep.” If every friend group had to have a mother figure then Arthur would be theirs’. He was notorious on lecturing others about health and nutrition while simultaneously ignoring his own advice.

“Otherwise you could just do what Heracles does and just sleep through meals.” Arthur’s friend Yao Wang referred to their other friend Heracle Karpushi who currently had his head rested on the table and was deeply sleeping.

“That’s a horrible idea!” Arthur chastised. “If he sleeps through meals he won’t get proper nutrition. You need both to maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep up the energy needed to get through the day.”

“I think he was just joking.” Matthew responded. “But as awful as my roommates are at least they aren’t out partying every night. It makes my job a hell of a lot easier.”

“Mon dieu Matthieu! Do you really think we’re that awful?” Francis feigned offense. Apparently there was something special about the floors in the dining hall that made it easy for people to sneak up on others because none of the boys had even heard Francis coming.

“What the fuck are you doing here you frog.” Arthur yelled louder than he had intended. “I told you to leave me alone.”

“Your lips may have said leave me alone but we all know that in your heart you long to be in my presence.” Francis and Arthur had a long history and not exactly a pleasant one. Despite their objectively unpleasant relationship every year their interactions grew more and more frequent. “But we can save that for later. I’m actually hear for Matthew.”

Matthew looked at him in surprise as he sat down at their table. Francis continued. “We both have a vested interest in our dear friend Gilbert. Now as much as I love his party boy ways and I do love his party boy ways a little birdie told me that his father is growing weary of his son’s behavior. While I would normally take this with a grain of salt with it the same little birdie told me that Leon blames Gilbert’s behavior on his devoted friends. I don’t know what Leon has in mind to remedy this situation but it can’t be good.”

“So what are you saying?” None of this was surprising to Matthew. What was surprising was that it had taken this long for Mr. Beilschmidt to do anything.  
“I’m offering my help. I can make him listen to you which is something even Leon can’t do.” While that certainly would make Matthew’s job easier for Gilbert to listen to him Matthew would need to first tell him what to do which is something Matthew had not yet figured out.”

“And how exactly are you going to make him listen to me?” Matthew asked, more skeptical than curious.

“That is for me to worry about.” Francis responded with a smile. Clearly he was up to something. “Regardless you two have dance together coming up next. We wouldn’t want you to miss that so we should probably wrap up. You still need to get changed.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew stood awkwardly at the edge of the studio. His hair was getting pretty long so he ended up tying it back in a ponytail but felt extremely out of place in his Target brand gym shorts and t-shirt. The dance instructor was a tall Russian man by the name of Ivan Braginsky. The minute clock struck 1:30 he called everyone to attention.

“Hello. My name is Mr. Braginsky. I will be your dance instructor for the summer.” His accent was thick but understandable. “Today we will be beginning with ballet fundamentals.”

“Where are all the girls at?” A voice came from the back that was undoubtedly Gilbert Beilschmidt.

The corners of Ivan’s mouth turned up into almost a sinister smile. “You must be Mr. Beilschmidt. I have heard much about you.” Gilbert was beaming at the recognition he received. He deserved to be well known. “But it seems like you neglected to read course description when signing up. This class is for. . . boys only.” 

“What!” Gilbert looked utterly betrayed. It was as if he had just found out that his most trusted confidant had been working for his worst enemy the entire time or he walked into a McDonalds at 10:45 on a Monday thinking it was still the weekend to get an egg McMuffin only to find out that they stopped serving breakfast 15 minutes ago.

“If you are quite done it is time for class to start.” On second thought today was turning out to be a pretty good day.


	6. I Spy

Gilbert never knew his mother. For all he knew, he and his brother just one day appeared in his father’s house and his father hadn’t bothered to get rid of them. Gilbert couldn’t care less that he hadn’t grown up with a mother. Maybe his dad wasn’t up for “Father of the Year” but he wanted what was best for his children and would do almost anything to ensure their success in life. Gilbert often thought about his father and what he wanted for his children as he did the exact opposite as he was supposed to do. Like he was planning on doing at that very moment.

Gilbert had been a very good boy for the entire first week of camp. He had gone to class and only talked back to the teachers a handful of time. He had even attended both sessions of that awful all male dance class which, although he didn’t want to admit it, was a workout that kicked his ass every time. He had woken up at 7 in the morning to make it to the dumb 8 am music production class his father had insisted on making him take. But now it was Saturday evening, and Saturday even means it was time to party.

“Alright boys, what’s the plan for tonight!” Gilbert burst through the door of their lavish cabin, ready for whatever crazy plans Antonio and Francis had. Except Antonio and Francis weren’t there.

Matthew looked up from tuning his violin. There were practice rooms on the campus, but in general he preferred to rehearse in his own private space. With all of his roommates gone, it was the perfect time to rehearse. Until Gilbert showed up of course. “What are you doing here?”

“Um I live here.” Gilbert was a little offended at the question although Matthew clearly didn’t mean it like that.

“No, I thought you were out with Antonio and Francis. They went over to get dinner with the Vargas twins and your brother.” It was common for campers to go off campus to grab a meal on Saturday nights. A simple meal seemed innocent enough to Matthew and since he formed his alliance with Francis he wasn’t too worried about Gilbert going rogue. There was a fatal flaw in this plan in that Gilbert had not been invited to the dinner. Certainly everyone cool already had plans that night and he would be stuck there alone.

“Well that’s just fan-fucking-tastic!” He lamented, sinking into the couch in despair. There was nothing Gilbert hated more than being bored, and having to hang out with the nanny was as boring as boring could possibly get. But it was better than nothing. “So what’s the plan then?”

“Excuse me?” Matthew was genuinely shocked Gilbert was showing interest in him.

“Like we can’t just sit around here doing nothing. There has to be something you want to do.” Gilbert whined.

“I was just planning to stay in and practice.” No, no, that wouldn’t work. “Still, it is kind of strange that Antonio and Francis didn’t invite you. I suppose maybe you could call them and see if you could join-”

“That’s a great idea!” Gilbert exclaimed. “We should totally go spy on them!”

“That is not what I said Gilbert. You shouldn’t spy on your friends.”

“You’re right they’ll be able to see right through us if we show up in our normal clothing.”

“How is that the conclusion you drew.”

“No wait I think I have a plan! Alright Matthew, it is your lucky night tonight. You get the privilege of getting to hang out with the amazing me.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is a horrible idea.” Matthew hissed from behind the menu of the lavish upstate restaurant they had tracked the others to. Gilbert had to slip the maitre d’ a fifty to get a table but they were able to get one decently close to the others. Matthew shifted uncomfortably in the suit that Gilbert had borrowed for him from a friend.

“If by horrible you mean fucking fantastic then yeah I agree with you. Besides, I’m buying you dinner, you should be grateful.” Gilbert had a very good point. This was not the kind of food Matthew would normally buy and at least nothing they were doing was technically illegal.

“And what can I get you two to drink this evening?” The waiter came to take their order.

Matthew was a little bit freaked out but Gilbert handled it like a pro. “Get us a bottle of the finest Merlot you have in stock.”

“Right away sir.” The waiter left without any other questions. While the two of them certainly looked older all dressed up, Matthew would have thought they would at least be carded. Speaking of which their ‘disguises’ didn’t seem like they would be very effective.

“So tell me exactly how you slicking back your hair and putting on a suit and a pair of glasses would make you any less recognizable?” Matthew questioned, a heat creeping up the back of his neck. He really shouldn’t be there. He should be back at camp practicing his music.

“A pair of glasses is a perfectly good disguise. You see it in movies all the time” Gilbert argued. “Speaking of which you should really take off your glasses, you’re going to blow your cover.”

Gilbert reached across the table to remove Matthew’s glasses. Matthew flinched instinctively, causing Gilbert’s hand to miss the glasses and gently caress Matthew’s cheek instead. It was awkward for everyone. Especially the waiter who had finally showed up with their drinks. 

“Please let me know when you too are ready to order.”

“Ah yes,” It was difficult for Gilbert to hide a blush given the nature of his extremely pale skin. It was an awkward moment more than anything else, but Gilbert couldn’t help but notice how soft Matthew’s skin was. “Um, I guess I’ll have the roast duck. What do you want Matthew?”

“Huh?” It took Matthew a moment to realize what was going on. Certainly the gesture was a mistake, but he was not used to physical contact of that nature. “Oh right. Um, I’ll just have what you’re having.”

“We’ll have that out for you as soon as you can. In the mean time I will grab you a basket of breadsticks as an appetizer.” The waiter replied as he sauntered off, hoping that they would at least tip well.

Matthew and Gilbert sat in silence for a little while trying to think of something to say. “So. . . you want to be an investigative journalist. What information have you been able to gather about our dumb friends over there.”

“It seems like they are just. . . chatting.” In all honesty Matthew hadn’t noticed much about them. What he had noticed was that Gilbert had addressed them as “our friends” instead of just “my friends.” While that may have been just a slip of the tongue, it was certainly something worth noting. Moreover Gilbert seemed a little insecure about his friends having fun without him. He may be a huge loudmouth with ego for days, but even he had a soul. 

“Well you know what! Fuck them. We don’t need them to have fun.” Again with the we. It appeared that one of the easiest ways to make it into a social group is to literally be the only choice available.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dinner was amazing, as expected. Once Gilbert stopped being a self entitled asshole he was actually really funny, and once Matthew let his walls down he was a pretty fun guy to hang out with. The wine also helped with that. They finished with the meal around the time that the others did and while neither of them had a lot to drink, Gilbert decided it would be a good idea to confront his friends about why they didn’t invite him.

“What the hell guys?” He asked angrily.

“Oh hey Gilbert, how’s it going?” The younger Vargas twin Feliciano responded cheerfully. Clearly they were not surprised to see him which confirmed Matthew’s suspicion that their disguises really weren't that good.

“Don’t ‘how’s it going’ me. Why the hell did you guys go out to dinner and not invite me.” A twinge of jealousy could be heard in his voice.

Rather than looking guilty, the others just looked confused. “But we did invite you to dinner. Antonio sent you the text.”

“I got no such text.” Gilbert said, grabbing his phone to show them. Alas, there was no text message, no missed call, no facebook message, nothing.

“What! I totally texted you!” Antonio exclaimed, also grabbing his phone. Everyone watched with baited breath as he checked through his phone. “Oh oops, I guess I wrote the text message but forgot to press send.”

“You absolute fucking walnut! I can’t believe you’re dumb enough to just forget to press send.” The older twin yelled, throwing a fist into Antonio’s arm.

“Ow! That hurt Lovi.” He nursed his wounded arm. “Sorry about that bro, but at least it seemed like you guys had a nice time.”

Gilbert should have been angry. He really should have been angry. But he was just so relieved that his friends had just forgot to invite him rather than purposely went out without him that he really didn’t care. With all the ego that he had, there was a long way to fall. But for now he was sitting high and mighty.

To be honest Matthew sort of enjoyed hanging out with Gilbert. While he did remind him a lot of his brother, there was a unique yet somewhat likeable quality that Matthew just couldn’t put his finger on it. As they were all walking back to the limo to take them back to camp, Matthew felt a bit out of place. Gilbert stopped him before he got in.

“Hey Matthew.” Gilbert started. Matthew was certain he knew how this is going. He would tell him that it was a decent enough time but they shouldn’t make a habit of this sort of outing. Oddly enough Matthew was kind of saddened by that notion. “I surprisingly had a really good time tonight. You’re not too bad you know, and you look pretty decent when you clean up.”

This was new. Not that it was his goal to change Gilbert’s opinion of him, nor was it even his idea for them to go out that night. But everyone wants to be liked. And for the Great and Terrible Gilbert Beilschmidt to give him his seal of approval, it was no small feat. “Thank you. You’re not too bad yourself once you start acting like a human being instead the personification of a literal anus.”

“I’ll take it.” Gilbert chuckled. “Y’know I really wanted to dislike you but you’re a pretty likeable guy. I hereby give you permission to hang out with me. You have now been inducted into the cool kids club.”

“Does it come with a jacket.” Matthew felt strangely comfortable. Perhaps it was the wine or perhaps it was the fact that Gilbert did share so many similarities to Alfred but he was able to joke around with him relatively unrestrained. There weren’t many people he could call anuses without at least a little bit of fear of repercussions.

“Friendship jackets? That’s a good idea.” While Matthew had been joking, Gilbert was not. “I’ll look into having them made.”


	7. The Aftermath

While Sunday was a day off for all the campers, most of them found themselves wandering over to the dining hall for a deliciously extravagant Sunday brunch. To Matthew, brunch was something his family did on Easter and special occasions and usually consisted of overpriced bacon and eggs and an hour of listening to old people tell him how much he’s grown. Brunch at Vargas International was a completely different situation.

Matthew had already made plans to get brunch with Arthur. “Honestly I don’t understand why it was even necessary” Arthur complained, relaying the details of his family dinner the night before. Arthur had three brothers and although his family usually stayed back in London for most of the year, his eldest brother and mother were in town and decided to take him out for dinner. “I have only been here for a week and they treat it like it has been years. Like I’m likely to have made some great discovery about myself and others and it is my obligation to let them in on the secret.”

Matthew didn’t want to admit it but he himself was getting a little homesick. Arthur had done a lot more traveling than he had, but a week was still a decently long time to be away from his family for Matthew. “Well if you do make any great discoveries be sure to let me know.”

“So what did you do last night? Sit around with your laptop and your journal all night?” Arthur questioned.

“Oh no, actually I went out with Gilbert.”

“YOU WHAT?” Matthew was startled by the sudden increase in the volume of Arthur’s voice. “I mean, with him?”

“Yeah, I was kind of forced into it but it actually ended up being pretty fun.” Arthur couldn’t believe it. Dear sweet Matthew, already fallen prey to the hands of the big bad German wolf.

“He didn’t do anything to you did he?" Arthur asked.

“Was he supposed to?” Matthew was thoroughly confused. Why was it weird that he went and got dinner with his roommate? Was there some sort of social convention that he didn’t understand. “I mean I guess he did sort of caress my face and that was uncomfortable but I’m pretty sure it was 90% my fault."

“Matthew,” Arthur grabbed Matthew’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. “I know he may seem cool and attractive now, but you can’t let yourself get involved with him. He isn’t the type of person who has serious relationships. He’s a one and done kind of guy.”

“What are you talking about.”

“I’m talking about you dating Gilbert!”

Matthew burst out laughing. “Oh gosh, no no you misunderstand. When I say we ‘went out’ I mean we literally just grabbed dinner in a non-romantic date like setting. Why would you even think that?”

“Well the way you were talking about it made it seem like it was something more intimate than that.”

“Well I’m pretty sure that Gilbert is straight so that wouldn’t-”

“Gilbert isn’t straight.”

Matthew paused. “He isn’t?”

“Have you seen his porn collection? That boy makes no judgements when it comes to sex. At least on the basis of gender. He isn’t Francis who will fuck anything that moves.”

“What an odd thing to say.” Matthew pondered it for a second. For starters he hadn’t seen Gilbert’s porn collection and didn’t have much desire to. At the same time he didn’t really have any reason to assume that Gilbert was straight other than it was just sort of the default in his mind. 

“Does being around gay people bother you?” Matthew knew that Arthur was gay. Arthur was pretty open about his sexuality since most people already knew. And while it really didn’t bother Matthew at all, the concept of alternative sexualities was something not really addressed back in his hometown. 

“Absolutely not.” He replied. It really didn’t matter what Gilbert’s sexuality was, the chances of him being attracted to Matthew were pretty slim. “Regardless, it wasn’t a date.”

“Why don’t you think it was a date?” 

“Because there is no way Gilbert could ever like me.”

“But could you like someone like him?”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night Matthew decided to facetime Alfred. It had been a couple of days since they last spoke, Alfred had gone up north with their father to go fishing for the weekend since Matthew got to go on his own trip. He pretended to listen to Alfred tell him about the fish that he caught but had other things on his mind. Matthew had never thought about the possibility of him not being straight. While he hadn’t had much opportunity to experiment with sexuality, he always just kind of assumed that if you were gay you just knew and if you were straight you just knew. He had always been waiting for confirmation but it never came.

“Are you okay Matthew?” Alfred paused his story to check on his brother who seemed to have spaced out.

“Oh yeah, sorry. I’m fine. Just thinking is all.” It wasn’t even whether or not he could someday develop a crush on Gilbert that was the issue he was thinking about. That seemed like it was a couple of steps further down the road in his thought process than he was at. Certainly he found Gilbert attractive, but he also found Elizaveta attractive and Francis attractive and Antonio and Natalia. Basically everyone there was attractive so he wasn’t going to figure it out that way.

"What are you thinking about." Alfred did have a tendency to dominate every conversation he was in but had his moments where he allowed others to steal the spotlight for a second, and sometimes even encouraged it.

“Just something my friend Arthur said.” Matthew replied, not sure if he was ready to tell his brother about the gay conflict he was having. Really he didn’t want to tell anyone about it. It was probably an overreaction, but if it wasn’t he wanted to make sure he knew for certain before he went around telling everyone he was seriously questioning his sexuality.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Alfred wasn’t going to push Matthew too hard to talk about his problems but knew that historically his brother had a tendency to bottle his feelings up and just let them sit and fester until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“He’s just worried about how close I’m getting with my roommates. It’s kind of complicated.” Complicated may not have been the right word. The situation itself wasn’t complicated at all. If Matthew had been a girl then it would have made a lot of sense to him. But Matthew had also lived his life inside a glass box, seeing what was in front of him but isolated from it all. Since arriving at camp his box had been shattered and the only way out was to walk over the very shards that once kept him safe. It may seem a bit overdramatic, but he hadn’t expected any of this coming into New York.

“Well that’s dumb.” Alfred’s words took Matthew by surprise. “I get that your roommates may not be what mom would call ‘the best influence,’ whatever the fuck that means, but you’re Matthew Williams. This friend of yours doesn’t know this yet but you can pretty much withstand anything.”

“Thanks Alfred.” Matthew smiled.

“I mean, I’ve watched Gossip Girl. I know that these rich upper east siders can be toxic. By the time Jenny Humphrey moved to Hudson she was a mess. But you’re so much stronger than Jenny Humphrey and even if you weren’t Taylor Momson is a fucking babe now so it was all good in the end.”

Gossip Girl references aside, Alfred did have a point, although it had literally nothing to do with what he was originally thinking about. But at the end of summer he would also move away from it all back to Minnesota. Although time did seem to move differently at camp, it would end in time. If he could just keep focused on his studies and his “job” he would be able to go back home at the end of summer and not have to worry about any of that stuff again. Besides, it was at camp that he started questioning everything in the first place, maybe it would end at camp.

Just then Gilbert walked in the room. “Yo Matthew! Wanna play some video games?”

“Excuse me?” Matthew did not play many video games. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have access to them, Alfred had plenty, he just never got the appeal of them. “Why are you asking me.”

“Because we’re buddies now.” Gilbert put his arm around Matthew’s shoulder. Skinship was of no issue with him. “Oh hey what’s this?”

“Oh hey, I’m Matthew’s brother.” Alfred introduced himself. “My name is Alfred F. Jones. The ‘F’ stands for ‘fucking awesome.’”

“No it doesn’t Alfred, it stands for Franklin.” Matthew rolled his eyes.

“What a coincidence, we have the same middle name.” Gilbert replied, completely ignoring Matthew. “Wait, if you’re brother’s then why do you have different last names?”

“Matthew took our mom’s last name and I took my dad’s.” They were asked that question a lot but Alfred didn’t really mind having to explain it. He got to talk about himself some more so it was what he really wanted. “I think it suits us, y’know. Like ‘Williams’ is such a soft last name, it suits someone like Matthew but Jones has some punch to it. Alfred F. Jones! It sounds like something you’d name a superhero.”

Alfred had an obsession with wanting to be a hero. When he was young he once strapped a Batman pillowcase around his neck and jumped off the roof. It didn’t work and he broke his arm. The next summer he did it again wearing a Superman pillowcase. His response when questioned was "it didn't work before because Batman can't fly. But Superman can!"

Alfred, however, cannot.

“Sorry Gilbert, I’m not a huge fan of video games.” Matthew pushed the taller man off of him. “Why don’t you ask Francis or Antonio?”

“I already did. They’re busy.” Once again, Matthew was asked because he was the last choice. “Playing video games alone isn’t fun though.”

“What kind of system is it?” Alfred chimed in through the computer.

“Xbox.” 

“Dude if you want we could play over Xbox live.” Was Alfred really going to ditch Matthew to play video games with Gilbert?

“Sick man, let’s do it!” Yes, evidently he was. The conversation ended there for the night. Matthew hoped that Alfred wasn’t going to embarrass him in front of his new friend but the chances of him getting out unscathed were slim to none. It couldn’t be that bad though, right?


	8. I Understand Fall Out Boy Because Titling Things is Hard

By the fourth dance class, the boys were still working on the most basic dance skills. Every class they’d spend nearly half the time warming up and stretching. Matthew was not very naturally flexible and had a bit of a harder time than some of the other boys. Gilbert, on the other hand, was surprisingly flexible and although he bitched and moaned about it, was a pretty good dancer. Mr. Braginsky was strict but when he gave praises the praise was genuine. On the third day he told Matthew that he had good feet and while Matthew didn’t exactly know what he meant by that, it made him really happy.

“Alright class, starting on Tuesday we’re going to move forward a bit from ballet fundamentals into a new style of dance.” Mr. Braginsky announced as the class packed up their dance bags to head out for the day.

“Thank god, I don’t know how much more of all of this ‘plie’ ‘relevé’ ‘jeté’ French crap I can take.” Gilbert whispered into Matthew’s ear. 

“At least you can ‘jeté’ I can barely keep myself from tripping over my own feet when we’re at the bar. Across the floors are torture for me.” Matthew whispered back. Although Gilbert had other friends in the class, he seemed to be most interested in Matthew at that period in time. Arthur always grumbled about how it was because Matthew was “new and exciting” but Matthew didn’t really care.

Mr. Braginsky cleared his throat. “As many of you know at the end of summer we have a masquerade ball. This is not your typical high school prom. It is a ball, meaning you will have to actually dance, and not the typical grinding and jumping kids your age do. It is therefore my responsibility as your dance instructor to teach you the basics of social dance so you lot will not make a fool of yourself or me.”

“Does that mean we’re bringing girls in?” Gilbert asked excitedly.

“Nyet.” Mr. Braginsky felt when working with high school students if they were to have a coed class it would get too distracting for them at the beginner level. To him dance was the most important thing in the world. He was Natalia’s cousin and had gone to school for dance back in Russia. He was a dance prodigy, entering the corps de ballet at age 17 and by age 23 had already danced his first principal role in a ballet. Unfortunately he had sustained a pretty major injury to his ankle and had to leave the ballet for the time being to recover. Being a ballet dancer he may not have been the most qualified choice to teach social dance, however he could at the very least teach the basic level. “You will be learning both the lead and the follow part.”

This information should have been concerning to Matthew, although he had never been much one for overemphasizing one’s masculinity. He was a bit relieved to be honest because he couldn’t imagine himself being good at leading anyone in dance. Gilbert was less enthusiastic. “Are you kidding me? There is no way I could ever dance the girl part, I’m too awesome for that.”

Mr. Braginsky ignored him. “If there are no questions then you can leave for the day.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The masquerade ball was not the only thing happening at the end of the camp session. The last weekend was like a big camp festival where everyone showed off what they had learned. There was an art show where real buyers came and bought works, athletic events, an orchestra concert, a dance show, etc. It was not only a great time for parents to see what their children had been doing all summer but for members of the community to participate. But what everyone was really looking forward to was the battle of the bands.

Technically it was a talent show. There weren’t enough bands in the camp to fill an entire show. Even so, everyone knew that was the main event. This year the stakes were even higher. Since Beilschmidt music had agreed to produce an album for whomever won the competition, more and more bands were being formed just for the chance of doing something that their parents would probably hate and succeeding at it. Some people were not thrilled.

“I don’t even see the purpose of competing if there’s no way that we’re gonna win.” Antonio complained that evening as they all sat living room of their cabin. Gilbert had called a band practice but the motivation to do anything was pretty low. With Gilbert’s father paying for the competition they knew there was no way for Gilbert’s band, The Bad Touch Trio, to win without it seeming like blatant favoritism. So they wouldn’t win.

“Does it even really matter? So what if we don’t win, we can record an album anyway.” Gilbert had a decent point. “If we go out there and play everyone is going to know that we’re the best. Because we are the best.”

“Something just hasn’t been working lately.” Francis added, looking at Antonio accusingly. “Either the vocals are good and the guitar is off or the guitar is on time but the vocals suck.”

Antonio scoffed. “I do the work for half of the band, cut me some slack. Maybe you should just be more mindful when writing the songs to put something in that someone can actually play.”

“My songs are perfectly playable. Maybe if you spend more time practicing and less time chasing after Lovino then we wouldn’t have this issue.”

“Wow that’s rich coming from someone who chases after every pretty ass that walks past him.”

“And yet I can still play my part correctly.”

“Guys stop.” Gilbert was not normally the voice of reason, but even he could see that this was getting ridiculous. “How about instead of arguing about it let’s look for a solution. We can get Matthew to help us, he’s really smart.”

Gilbert had been really interested in Matthew. Ever since they had hung out on Saturday, he had been constantly interested in bothering Matthew. Certainly it would pass when Gilbert got bored of him, but at that moment there was little else on his mind. He brought Matthew out and sat him down in front of them . “Slow down Gilbert, you still haven’t told me what you want.”

“Just listen to us play real quick and then tell us what we’re doing wrong.” Gilbert ran back to his drumset to prepare.

“Are we doing this now?” Francis asked, jumping up from his seated position.

“Let’s do it.” Gilbert counted them in and Antonio began singing.

“Some legends are told  
Some turn to dust or to gold  
But you will remember me  
Remember me for centuries  
And just one mistake  
Is all it will take  
We'll go down in history  
Remember me for centuries”

Matthew listened, taking careful notes on where things could be changed and what could be better. Honestly he was a bit surprised about how good they sounded, although he had some major corrections. While he had heard them pretty much every night through muffled walls, there was something different about a live performance.

“So what did you think of me? Was I awesome?” Gilbert grinned, quite proud of his performance just then.

“You were fine Gilbert.” Matthew started. “Honestly it was pretty good I just have a few notes. Antonio, it seemed like you were sort of struggling to keep up. There were also a couple of times when you weren’t 100 percent in tune, although I suppose this is technically a live performance so things are going to be a bit different.”

“Alright, so what do you suggest I do?” Matthew and Antonio had improvisation on strings together and Antonio had seen Matthew’s ability to create tunes and patterns on the fly.

“May I?” Matthew gestured to the guitar in Antonio’s hand. He handed it over. Matthew began plucking away. “I think if we change this part right here to something more like this it would be a bit easier to handle and fits with the other rhythms a bit better. And if you took a pause before going in here then it would help you keep time and add sort of a cool effect.”

The three boys looked at each other, all sort of thinking the same thing. “Hey Matthew, what if we played this rhythm here on top of what is already being played.” Antonio grabbed the acoustic guitar he kept in the corner to demonstrate.

“That would sound really cool!” Matthew paused. “But you only have one guitar player, you can’t play both lead and rhythm.”

“You know what, three person bands are kind of difficult anyway. I know it has always been just the three of us but what would you guys think about adding a fourth member?” Francis already knew the answer to the question.

“This is going to be awesome, Matt! The four of us in a band. My dad is going to hate it.” Gilbert kind of jumped the gun and just automatically assumed Matthew would be up for joining the band. But why wouldn’t he? They were the best band on campus in Gilbert’s mind plus Matthew would be able to spend even more time with him and who wouldn’t want that.

“What? Me?” Matthew set down the guitar and backed away. “I’m sorry but I think you’ll be better off finding someone else. I mean look at me, do I look like the kind of person who belongs in a rock band.”

“You’re absolutely right Matthieu and it is a travesty.” Francis brought out his phone and began typing a message. “That is why Elizaveta and I are taking you shopping this weekend. I’m thinking complete makeover montage.”

“Excuse me? I’m sorry but I really don’t have the budget for a new wardrobe.”

“Don’t worry about it, consider it a gift. Actually, it’s more like charity. Charity to the entire world for getting rid of your horrible clothing.” Francis’s mother was a famous fashion designer from France. From the time of his birth he had never worn an unfashionable outfit and dressed almost exclusively in designer names. He considered it his purpose in life to create a more beautiful world one fashion disaster at a time. “I’m quite the philanthropist.”

“Don’t you mean philanderer?” Antonio quipped.

Francis winked. “Why don’t come over and find out. But seriously, your wardrobe has got to go. I’ve already scheduled everything so you kind of have to do it.”

“When did you do that?”

“I’ve actually been planning this from the day we met I just figured now was a good time to mention it. Be prepared to leave after lunch on Saturday, we have a long day in store.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The song they sing in this chapter is Centuries by Fall Out Boy. As it turns out I am not creative enough to write my own songs.


	9. What Not To Wear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: You guys don’t know how excited I am to write this chapter. I literally dress men for a living, this is the shit I live for.

Matthew knew there was no way to get out of his shopping trip with Francis and Elizaveta. They had already gone through his clothing the night before and donated anything they thought was beyond salvage to charity and he really did not have much left. He managed to save a couple of sweatshirts for sentimental reasons, a pair of well fitting jeans, and two pairs of shorts but other than that he, might as well be naked. He stopped them before they got to his underwear drawer but they insisted that they would be buying him some new pairs as well. Matthew felt like he was on that old TLC show What Not To Wear and was somehow less than enthusiastic.

“Alright, first stop is the hair salon.” Francis announced and the stepped into the cab to take them to the city. They weren’t too far upstate but the cab ride was still relatively long and uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong with my hair?” Matthew grabbed his blonde locks instinctively.

“Do you cut it yourself?” Elizaveta asked.

“No, my mom does.” She always offered to take him to the barber shop but he insisted that she did a good enough job.

“Yeah well she could try using something other than a rusty butter knife.”

“Well excuse me for not having a pair of diamond crusted whatevers just lying around the house.”

“Scissors. The word you are looking for is scissors.”

Francis nodded in agreement. “Oui, obviously we need to stop by my mother’s store but there are a couple other places I want to stop.”

“I really like the menswear selection at Bergdorfs but I saw this Ralph Lauren pullover at Bloomingdales that I think would really suit Matthew.” Elizaveta pulled out a list she had made on her phone.

“Speaking of suits we should really get him one. I know he borrowed one last Saturday to go out with Gilbert but he clearly needs a slim fit jacket and that three button look has been out for quite a while.”

“Should we get him a grey or a black one?”

“I would think he needs both! Besides you never know when you’re going to need a nicely tailored suit and there are so many ways to dress it down if need be.”

“Well if we are going to get him some suits we’re going to need to get him a couple of ties as well. Bow ties are making a comeback but if he doesn’t have at least a couple of long ties in his wardrobe there really isn’t any point.”

“We need some nice pocket squares for sure. I will stand by them until the day I die.”

“No one is arguing with you on that front Francis. What do you think Matthew?”

They both stared at him. If we was being 100 percent honest he had no idea what the past twenty minutes of conversation had even been about. He was still worried about what they were going to do to his hair. “I think all of that sounds really expensive. You don’t need to spend all that money on me, really.”

“This is a crisis Matthew, I am willing to spare no expense.” Elizaveta looked more serious than Matthew had ever seen her and it frightened him a little bit. It appeared there was no getting out of it.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The appointment at the hair salon went better than Matthew expected. They cut off the dead bits and did a nice conditioning treatment but the stylist liked his natural color and he was able to get out of anything too extreme. As they sat in the mens’ section of Bergdorfs looking at the different options, he sat and absentmindedly stroked his now silky blonde hair.

“What do you think of these pants Matthew.” Elizaveta brought out a light khaki pair of pants that looked a lot like the ones that she had previously grabbed and put away.

“No, these ones are better.” Francis showed him an identical pair of pants. Seriously Matthew could not tell the difference, nor did he really care.

“I think like the ones on the left.” After about an hour he had learned that it was better to give a definitive response even if he didn’t know what he was talking about than leaving it up to them to argue about.

“And what about these jeans. They’re Armani.” Francis brought out a pair of jeans that looked a lot like a pair they had thrown away.

“That sounds great.” Whatever the hell “Armani” was.

“Let’s get you a room to try all of this on.” Elizaveta flagged down a salesperson to prepare a dressing room.

“I know by now this is sort of a moot point but I was talking to Arthur and he said-” Matthew started but was promptly cut off.

“Oh don’t listen Arthur, he knows nothing about fashion.” Despite what Francis said, Matthew was sure that he had seen Arthur wearing a sweater vest that was almost identical to one that they had just bought at the previous store.

“Come off it Francis, you just don’t like Arthur because he refuses to sleep with you.” Elizaveta responded to a question nobody had asked.

“That’s completely unfair, there are plenty of people who won’t sleep with me whom I get along with just fine. You won’t sleep with me but we’re great friends.”

“We hate each other”

“You may be onto something there, Hedervary.” 

Listening to the conversation Matthew wondered if the fact that Francis hadn’t tried to get him to sleep with him meant anything. Little did he know that Francis had brought it up on a number of occasions only to be shot down by the sheer fact that Matthew had no idea what he was talking about. Still when the shop assistant had the fitting room all prepared he gladly left the other two to bicker amongst themselves.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“They are taking so long, when are they gonna be back.” Gilbert lamented as he sat in the music building lounge. Gilbert and Elizaveta had invited all of their friends there for the big reveal of Matthew’s new look.

“They already said that they were on there way so it shouldn’t be that much longer.” Emma had received a text not five minutes ago saying that the three would be back at camp soon.

“This is so fucking dumb I don’t see why we even have to do this.” Despite Lovino’s harsh words, he would have been even angrier if they had neglected to invite him in the first place. Luckily this week Antonio was not in charge of social invitations, although he was hanging around Lovino like a lovesick puppy.

“Because, my sweet little tomato, it is what friends do.” Bad pet names aside, despite Lovino’s harsh words Antonio could not get enough of the small Italian man. 

“He’s not my friend!” Lovino shouted. “I don’t even know who this kid is”

“Lovi, if you keep it up with your cutting words you won’t have any friends at all.” Feliciano replied sweetly. It was unclear whether he was trying to be harsh or just didn’t see how his words could be taken as such but it got a chuckle out of the people in the room.

“That was stone cold, Feli. Stone cold.”

“Liz says they just go to camp.” Chelles reported, waving her cell phone in the air as if it were a flag.

“It’s about fucking time.” Realistically, Gilbert was just upset that he had been left home for the night. 

“Wow you’re really impatient.” Natalia responded to Gilbert’s latest complaint. “Can I get you a Xanax so you can calm the fuck down.”

“Can I get you a ladder so you can get off my back.” Gilbert countered. Before Natalia could respond they heard a noise from outside.

“Why did you invited everyone. This is so embarrassing I’m not going in.”

“Come on Matt, everyone is here to see you.”

“Don’t treat him like a kindergartener. Matthieu, Liz and I spent a lot of money making you look extra good so throw me a bone now will you.”

“No comment.”

“I appreciate the innuendo but that’s not what I meant.”

“That’s it, if you aren’t going in then I’m pushing you in”

“Wait stop-”

Matthew tumbled through the door. Everyone was silenced looking at the transformation. He wore a grey cardigan with a white v-neck underneath with a pair of dark tan trousers and loafers. This in comparison to the ill fitting jeans and sweatshirt he had previously been wearing was quite a difference. He was also red all the way to the tips of his ears.

“Holy hell Francis you did a good job!” Antonio was the first one to speak.

“Wow Matthew, you look hot.” Chelles added, causing him to blush even more if that was possible.

“It was a team effort.” Elizaveta did not want her contribution to go unnoticed. She may not have been raised by a fashion designer but she knew her way around a department store. 

“Well, he looks good!” Feliciano chirped, turning to the tall blonde man beside him. “Don’t you agree Ludwig.”

“Yeah I guess.” Ludwig, who despite being Gilbert’s brother, was far less concerned about clothing and parties and the such than the average trust fund baby.

They all began to chatter at once. Everyone except for Gilbert. For once in his life he was at a loss for words. Certainly he thought that Matthew looked good. A lot better actually, you could actually see his face through his hair and he actually had a pretty good looking face. His thin body was very visible under his form fitting clothing. He wasn’t used to all the attention but everyone seemed to be really interested in him. 

And it made Gilbert unjustifiably angry.

He didn’t exactly understand why. Perhaps because Matthew was his new thing to play with and he didn’t like people messing with that. Even so, he had never been overly territorial. Just a week ago he wasn’t even too fond of him but he didn’t have much claim. He didn’t even have a monopoly on Matthew’s time, why was he so upset about watching all of his friends hang all over him. Something was clearly wrong.


	10. Moving Too Fast

"Jesus Christ what happened to you!" Arthur nearly spit out his tea that morning at brunch when he saw Matthew walking towards him in his now fashionable attire. Just 24 hours earlier he had seen his new best friend wearing his standard baggy garb, now he looked like a clone of the great and terrible Francis Bonnefoy himself. "You look like Fashion Week threw up on you."

"Yeah, I kind of had an interesting day yesterday." Matthew sat down at his usual spot at the edge of the table but something did seem off. The day before he had blended into the surrounding, but now he could feel the eyes of the other campers burning holes into the back of his expensive new button down dress shirt.

"An 'interesting day' would be walking on the doorman and the maid in the middle of an intimate moment" Yao Wang recalled an emotionally scarring experience from earlier that year. "You look like the second half of a bad teenage romance movie."

"That's a pretty accurate description of the events from yesterday." Matthew conceded. "Although for most of the day it seemed like a horror movie instead of a romcom.”

“How much product did they put in your hair?” Arthur laughed, feeling Matthew’s silky locks.

“I honestly don’t know. I’m just glad they didn’t put any color in it, I don’t know how I would explain highlights to Alfred.” One time Alfred had found a box of his mother’s hair dye and convinced Matthew to dye his hair. It went about as well as could be expected.

The boys continued to chat for a while as they ate their brunch. As Arthur was explaining to Matthew what he was planning for his DnD campaign, an unexpected guest came to the party. “Yo Mattie, scoot over, you’re leaving no room for me.”

Gilbert grabbed a chair and put it right next to Matthew’s at the table. Instinctively Matthew moved his over without thinking of questioning the other on why he was there. Gilbert usually sat on the opposite side of the dining hall where all the “cool kids” sat. Matthew sat on the side with all of the nerds and the social outcasts, which he quite enjoyed. Everyone else seemed equally shocked at his presence.

“We should just pull up another table, one won’t be enough.” Elizaveta had also decided to join them as well as Antonio, Francis, Chelles, Emma, Ludwig- the whole crowd.

“There is some room on the other side of the table too!” Feliciano scrambled to a spot next to Kiku and sat down. “Hi, my name is Feliciano Vargas, I’m here in the art department! It’s so nice to meet you!”

“I’m Kiku Honda. . . I’m here in the science department.” Kiku apprehensively introduced. 

“Y’know for an international summer camp they really don’t have much variety for brunch foods.” Natalia complained as she looked down at her cinnamon scone.

“Mattie, you’ve gotta try this combo. You cut the sausage into little bits and put it in the potatoes and then you put ketchup on top.” Gilbert took a scoop of his breakfast and put it on Matthew’s plate.

“I’m sorry but what are you guys doing here.” Arthur asked defensively. 

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Francis imitated Arthur’s accent. “Matthieu didn’t want to come over to our table because he was eating with you and he’s part of our crew now so we brought everyone to him.”

“And I felt that it was my duty to protect him from these assholes which is why we’re here.” Elizaveta playfully smacked Francis with the back of her hand as if to tell him to behave.

“Hey Matthew, do you have some of that maple syrup your mom sent with you. It is way better than any syrup I’ve ever tasted.” Antonio gestured to his dry pancakes.

Matthew grabbed a small glass bottle with a thick brown liquid in it. His aunt’s family made fresh maple syrup every year and always left his family with plenty to use. “You can have some but when did taste it before.”

“I saw the bottle and thought it was something else. We did get to taste it a little and it was really good.” Lovino choked a bit on his orange juice as Antonio spoke, turning red in the face. Everyone collectively decided to ignore it and move on.

Despite initial hostilities everyone seemed to get along pretty well at brunch. Even Arthur seemed to have a good time discussing their weird 20th Century Music teacher who was 40 years old and still seemed to think he was a rock star with Natalia. Kiku was a bit taken back by Feliciano at first but they soon bonded over a phone case Kiku bought in Akibahara. Even Heracles woke up to join in on some friendly conversation. 

Anna Sophia watched from her table. She and the four other girls she deemed pretty enough to hang with her sat at their “VIP” table and proceeded to gossip about everyone and everything they could grab dirt on.

“Look at them” Anna Sophia sneered at the sight of Matthew’s new group all eating together. “Honestly I feel embarrassed just watching them. Gilbert should really just stay away from them, he’s way too hot to be associated with those losers.”

“Ugh tell me about it!” Anna Sophia’s friend Isabella has the biggest crush on Gilbert and kept it a secret from no one. She and Gilbert periodically hooked up, but much to her dismay it never ended in anything serious. Gilbert had never really been one for relationships but that didn’t stop Isabella from trying.

“Real talk though, check out that new guy he’s hanging out with. I don’t think I’ve seen him around camp before.” In all fairness to Anna Sophia’s friend Angela, no one had really noticed Matthew before. The real reason why people were staring at Matthew wasn’t because they were noticing the change and judging him for it but because they genuinely had never acknowledged his existence before and were now wondering who this new kid was.

“He’s definitely not bad.” That was a huge compliment coming from Anna Sophia. “Tell me Lili, tell me what you know about him.”

By all accounts Lili did not fit in Anna Sophia’s crowd. She was just entering her freshman year of high school and didn’t have a mean bone in her body. Youngest daughter of the owner of a large pharmaceutical company all she wanted to do was play with her science kit but somehow ended up getting caught up with Anna Sophia and didn’t know how to tell her that she wasn’t interested. So now she was the designated keeper of secrets, someone who knew everything but told nothing unless specifically asked. “His name is Matthew Williams. He’s in the music department.”

“Of course he is! The music department attracts all the hotties.” Isabella fawned. 

“Right,” Lili was not quite sure how to respond so she continued giving information. “He is rooming with Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis. It looks like he’s here on scholarship.”

“A scholarship student?” This piqued Anna Sophia’s interest. “So that means he’s pretty much a clean slate.”

 

“Clean slate for what?” Lili asked.

“Oh you’re so cute.” Anna Sophia smiled condescendingly. “I have been single for far too long, it really is about time to look for a new boyfriend.”

Angela scoffed. “I thought you were more into Kennedy’s not wannabes.”

“A Kennedy would be nice but they come with their own set of baggage and goals.” Anna Sophia explained. “Social climbers are nice because if you flash a pretty penny at them they’ll do whatever you want. Besides, look at how close he is to Lizzie. It would be way more fun to catch him, use him, and lose him like last years handbag all while she watches.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So Thursday in your cabin for DnD?” Antonio asked as they left the dining hall. 

“Yeah, you are probably going to want to come early though so we can make you a character.” Arthur replied. Although he was apprehensive about the others' presence at first, once Matthew's roommates expressed interest in Arthur's DnD game he was suddenly a lot more welcoming.

"And you need to show me more of your cute accessories Kiku." Feliciano never had any problems making friends unlike his brother. His presence in any social situation usually made it a lot brighter.

As the group began to disperse Natalia grabbed Matthew by the shoulder and brought him aside. In all honesty Matthew was slightly afraid of Natalia, if by slightly afraid he meant fucking terrified. Natalia sort of had a bad case of resting bitch face all the time. “What’s going on between you and Gilbert.”

“Excuse me?” Hadn’t he just had that conversation with Arthur a week earlier? Why did everyone think there was something between him and Gilbert? Was Sunday the designated day of the week for homosexual internal conflict? “Gilbert and I are just friends.”

“Really? Just friends?” Natalia seemed skeptical. “Let me tell you something Matthew. I’ve known Gilbert for a very long time. He is usually pretty predictable in his actions.Gilbert mostly just loves himself, but other than that he loves 3 things: music, sex, and partying. Since you came along he has disproportionately focused on one of them and has done very little of the others.”

“Is there a problem with that? I don’t know if you know but that’s sort of why I’m here, to keep Gilbert out of trouble.” Realistically Matthew hadn’t done much of anything. Gilbert had just become so preoccupied with Matthew that he neglected his party boy ways.

Natalia shook her head. “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not angry at you.”

“You look pretty angry.”

“That’s just my face.” That last comment made her a bit angry but she quickly got over it. She decided to take things in a different direction. “Okay, so Elizaveta is my best friend and although it may not seem like it she cares about Gilbert.”

“And are you concerned that I’m going to end up hurting Gilbert?” Matthew was still convinced that there was no way that Gilbert could ever see him as anything other than a friend at best and a play thing at worst. 

“God no, if Gilbert gets himself hurt it will be his own damn fault.” At least they wouldn’t blame Matthew for that. “But I’m also worried about you. While we may not be super close, but you tickle me Matthew. You aren’t like the rest of us and I like that.”

“So what is the issue?”

“Gilbert is the kind of guy who goes all or nothing. You either jump in head first or you don’t jump in at all. And if you try to jump in with half-assed wishy washy feelings then everyone is going to end up getting hurt.” It was still a bit much for Matthew.

“Hold on. I’ve only known Gilbert for 2 weeks and while I’ll admit that I enjoy his company a lot more than I was anticipating this is all moving really fast.” Back where Matthew’s from people waited before getting into anything serious. As far as he could tell it took a long time for people to fall in love, a lot more than 2 weeks. 

“That’s just how things work in our world. You don’t have anything now but you need to make a decision. But the sooner you make it the better. Either you’re in or you’re out, there is no in between.”


	11. D&Don't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I haven’t played D&D since my sophomore year of high school so it has been a while. I apologize to any of you avid players if I get anything wrong.

Arthur Kirkland took his games for Dungeons & Dragons very seriously. He had a campaign with his friends back in London but for years had been trying to convince enough people at camp to set up a game. Finally he had enough people, even though they weren’t the people he was anticipating. Kiku, Yao, and Matthew for sure but if you would have told him that not only Gilbert, Francis, Antonio, and Lovino had wanted to join the game, but that he would let them in, he would have called you mad. Yet here he was, 7 pm on a Thursday night in the living room of his cabin, sitting around a table with all of those assholes playing a surprisingly good game a D&D. 

“Your party comes across a tavern. It’s getting pretty late and you are all both hungry and tired. You see two humans stumbling out of the door, drunkenly singing a happy song.” Arthur started.

“Are they hot?” Francis asked, having made it a personal goal to sleep with as many characters in the game as he possibly could.

“You didn’t notice.” Arthur rolled his eyes, wondering how much play time would be spent having Francis search for sexual conquests instead of the conquests of a different sort Arthur had already planned.

“Can I roll for perception to see if the people in the bar are hot?” In real life Francis usually only frequented places where the clientele was as aesthetically pleasing as he was. He planned on bringing that trait into the game.

“You can.” There really wasn’t a reason to deny it. Francis rolled an 18. “There was a fair mix of attractive and less attractive people in the tavern.”

“I say we go in, as long as there is one attractive person in the bar I’m always game.”

“I mean we’re also tired and hungry and I don’t want to have to camp outside the town.” Yao added.

“As you walk into the tavern a young woman pulls Merelleon aside. She offers to buy you a drink if you will listen to her tale.” Arthur continued, addressing Matthew’s character.

“Why does he get the pretty woman to talk to him!” Lovino complained. He originally didn’t want to join the campaign but Antonio had insisted and he had reluctantly been dragged along. However, once he had designed his own character and had started playing, he had gotten really into it and wanted to be a bigger part of the storyline.

“And are you telling me that we can get drunk in this game?” Gilbert’s mind went elsewhere. Arthur nodded. “Holy fucking shit I’m getting mega wasted!”  
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to listen to her story.” Matthew ignored the others. Arthur told the story of a noble woman who fell in love with a commoner. Standard plot for a first quest. Her father didn’t like her lover who was a member of the guard so he sent him off to a village not too far away that had bit of an issue with a malcontent orc who had been bothering the village and she feared for his safety. Matthew felt like it was a pretty standard quest for a first round of DnD but looking around at the faces of his companions it looked like it struck a nerve.

‘We should absolutely take this quest!” Antonio shouted louder than he needed to. He quickly lowered his voice. “I mean, if they are in love than it shouldn’t matter if they come from different worlds.”

“Are you stupid?” Lovino countered. “There are too many barriers, they won’t be able to be together. Even if we do go and get him her father will never accept him. What will she do? Become poor? Kill her father and take his place? Just hope for the best? We can’t just jump into things.”

“I’m all for option 2, killing is always the answer.” Gilbert added but was clearly just trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. The relationship between Antonio and Lovino was one of the most poorly kept secrets at camp. While everyone was pretty supportive of them, save for a few who usually just kept their mouths shut about the subject, Lovino was still under the impression that there was too much in the way of him being together with Antonio.

“It doesn’t matter.” That was the first thing Kiku had said in a while. “A job is a job. If we don’t go and get him, he’ll surely get killed by the orc. What they do later is up to them. She’s also willing to pay a lot and we need the money.”

“We’ll take it.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The quest itself was actually pretty easy. Kiku turned out to be a great strategist and ended up being really helpful in the process of the quest. He ended up reading every twist and turn Arthur had thrown in there. But Arthur had one more twist in the end.

“You reach the hut where you had been told Norros was staying.” Arthur narrated as the party reached the target’s home.

“Knock on the door.” Adventurer or no adventurer, Matthew was going to make sure that he was polite as possible.

“The door opens. Inside you see a young man you presume to be Norros Daleborn. Standing beside him is the orc you had been charged with rescuing him from.” Arthur went on to explain. Norros had never been lovers with the woman from the beginning, rather she had a bit of an obsession with him and wouldn’t leave him alone. Her father did send him to work in the village, but rather than fighting a malcontent orc he ended up awkwardly falling in love Vargan the Orc and had recently taken that next step and moved in together. 

No one had seen it coming.

They ended for the night there. Matthew had actually really enjoyed himself. Ever since his conversation with Natalia, he had been a bit on edge around Gilbert, trying to work out feelings he didn’t know he might had. But that night he was just able to have fun with his friends and he didn’t think it would have been as fun if Gilbert hadn’t been there. Perhaps it was just a fluke and they were just friends.

The others didn’t see it that way. Even if Gilbert and Matthew didn’t notice, they had been unconsciously flirting the entire night. Gilbert would touch Matthew every chance he got, even if it was just a slight brush of the hand or a little bump with his shoulder and Matthew giggled at literally everything Gilbert said. Gilbert was not funny enough to warrant that much giggling.

“Hey Francis, can I talk to you for a second.” Arthur grabbed Francis as everyone began to pack up and leave.

“Oh dear Arthur, did my incredible D&D skills turn you on so much you want to take things back to the bedroom for a private session.” Francis joked.

“Don’t flatter yourself, there is no way I’d be impressed by some newbie player who doesn’t know his arse from his arsenal”

“I’d love to get to know your arse better in a more intimate setting.”

“Not now Francis. I have something serious to talk about.” Playful banter aside there was a reason Arthur wanted to talk to him.

“I think I know where you’re going with this.” Francis had clearly been thinking the same thing as Arthur. “But go on”

“Matthew has quickly become one of my best friends and I would hate to watch him ruin himself with someone like Gilbert.” Arthur hesitated before adding the next part. “But I would hate even more for him to hold back and miss out on something that could really be good for him in the end.”

“Not to mention it would be tragic for this middle school romance ‘will they or won’t they’ bullshit to continue.” Francis added, voicing a concern that everyone had. “Gilbert hasn’t hooked up with anyone since he and Matthew became friends. Not even a quickie. If we don’t do something quick, he’ll go his entire camp experience without having sex.”

Arthur stared at Francis for a moment, debating whether it was worth it to call Francis out on the last statement which was clearly just said to bother him. He decided against it. “So then how are we going to get them together?”

“I mean we could lock them in a closet together.”

“That would never work, it’s a horrible venue for a blooming romance.”

“We can test it out ahead of time if you want. There is a closet right over there and I’m game if you are.”

“Did you really have to go there?”

 

“You make it too easy.”

Arthur shook his head. “In any event, we need to come up with a plan. Something that won’t just set them up for a hookup, but for a romance. Besides, they literally live in the same room. If some heat of the moment passionate moment was going to happen we wouldn’t need to lock them in a closet to give them some alone time together.”

“Quick question though, why did you come to me with this issue?” 

“As much as I hate to admit it, when we work together good things come out of it. Romance or whatever you call it is your area of expertise. I’ll take care of the logistics. Of course we’re going to need some help from your friends, and I’ll get my friends in on it too but if we’re going to get these two morons to realize they like each other then it’s going to take some firepower.” Back when Arthur lived in the states, it had often been said that it was a good thing that Francis and Arthur hated each other because if they got along, they could take over the world. Perhaps things had changed as they had gotten older. But while they wouldn’t be able to take over the world, a simple scheme to get to people together was a sure thing.

“‘Whatever you call it?’ Wow you do need my help.” Arthur glared at him. “But I agree. Text me the details and we’ll get started.”

“It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”


	12. 17 Candles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone forgot Matthew’s birthday. Including the author.

“Your birthday was Wednesday and you didn’t tell us about it?” Gilbert yelled at Matthew. It was the 4th of July and while everyone was getting ready for the annual 4th of July beach party Matthew let it slip that his birthday was a couple days ago and his mother had sent a care package.

“But thank god she sent more maple syrup” Antonio added, having quickly become a fan of the natural stuff. 

“I wish I’d have known, I’d’ve gotten you something.” Gilbert was still bothered by the fact that he’d missed Matthew’s birthday. He was really good at finding birthday gifts. He also really liked giving birthday gifts. More than anything, he liked being praised for finding a really good birthday gift.

“You don’t need to get me anything honestly. I’ve never been super big on celebrating my birthday since it’s so close to Alfred’s.” Alfred was like an attention vampire. Big parties were more his thing anyway, so it worked out well. “Speaking of which, I should call him back.”

“Don’t try to change the subject Mattie.” The sound of the nickname only people close to Matthew-- read as Alfred-- called him coming from Gilbert’s lips was refreshing. “It may be late but I will get you a present.”

“Why don’t we make this into an interesting little game.” Francis remembered his conversation with Arthur a couple of days prior and decided to take some action.

“A game?” Gilbert was interested.

“What do you mean by a game.” Matthew was less so.

“Fireworks start at 10 pm. If Gilbert can find the perfect gift for Matthew and deliver it by the time the fireworks start then, Gilbert wins.” The rules were simple enough. Francis felt pretty good about himself coming up with a plan all on his own.

“And what do I win when I give him his gift.” Of course there was that little detail. 

Clearly Francis couldn’t make Matthew do anything, that would be unfair. But what did he have that Gilbert would want. His go-to gifts of sex and booze seemed irrelevant in that situation. Gilbert didn’t really care about designer clothing. There was really only one option left. “Bragging rights.”

“Sick!” While most people would consider ‘bragging rights’ a poor option for a prize, Gilbert was always up for having people forcibly listen to him talk about bragging rights. “I get to brag about how awesome I am for an entire month!”

“A week.” Francis corrected. No scheme he had ever made was worth listening to Gilbert brag for an entire month.

“That’s fair.” A week was still good enough for Gilbert. “It’s a deal.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew had no idea what Gilbert was going to get him for his birthday. Unfortunately neither did Gilbert. He was great at buying gifts but normally the people he bought gifts for had a list of material things on standby to be picked up and delivered. Matthew wasn’t that into material things, which made shopping for him a pain. Francis and Elizaveta had already bought him an entirely new wardrobe and they had to twist his arm to get him to agree. He couldn’t get anything imported in that amount of time and the few times he had seen Matthew drink he hadn’t had much of of anything. 

Gilbert sat in his car on the way to the city trying to think of a good enough gift for Matthew. It had been a while since he had thought that hard about anything but he really wanted to get Matthew the perfect gift. Although he normally insisted on doing everything by himself, he decided this time that he needed help.

“Hey Alfred.” Gilbert spoke into his phone. “First of all, happy birthday. Matthew told me that it’s a pretty big deal so, um, happy 16.”

“Oh thanks man, but how did you get my phone number.” What Alfred didn’t know is that Gilbert didn’t need a private investigator to get his phone number, although his father did have one on standby. The fact that Alfred had his number posted on his facebook page was good enough for him.

“Yeah, anyway.” Gilbert decided to ignore the question. “So Matthew never mentioned that his birthday was just a couple of days ago and long story short I only have a couple of hours to get him a really awesome gift and as much as I hate to admit it, I need your help.”

There was a pause in the conversation. “You called me. . . on my birthday. . . to talk about gifts to get my brother. Who already had his birthday.”

“That’s what I said isn’t it? Is there a problem?” Gilbert asked, not wanting to waste time exchanging pleasantries.

“No, there isn’t.” Alfred started. “It’s just. . . usually people make a bigger deal out of my birthday than Matthew’s. Usually people make a bigger deal about me in general, it’s kind of refreshing being ignored for once in a weird sort of way.”

“Well if Matthew actually told people about his birthday I’m sure more people would make a bigger deal out of it.” Certainly if they had known there would have been a huge party. Elizaveta would have gone crazy trying to plan it all, Francis would find all of the hottest people to invite, and the twins wouldn’t rest until they had the best food in town, even if they had to fly someone in to cook it themselves. 

“That would require that there would be people to tell. Matthew doesn’t have too many friends back here.” Alfred admitted. 

Gilbert had not seen that coming at all. He thought Matthew was delightful, the perfect link between two worlds. He couldn’t possibly imagine Matthew not having a bunch of friends back home. “How is that possible, do poor people all just have bad taste?”

 

Alfred laughed. “It’s not that, he just doesn’t stand out too much here. I personally think that he’s great but for some reason I can’t get many people to jump on the same wagon y’know. It isn’t that people dislike him here, it’s just that they don’t really notice that he’s there. But that’s why it’s so great that he gets to go hang out with you guys all summer. I’m really happy for him, even if it’s only for a short period of time he gets to know what it’s like to have a bunch of friends.”

“Yeah.” Gilbert had an idea. “Thanks for your help but I think I’ve figured everything out. I’ll talk to you later.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“He’s late.” Arthur looked at his watch, pacing back and forth as he watched for Gilbert to arrive. “I knew it, the plan isn’t going to work. You should have consulted me first before you sent him out on a wild goose chase.”

“Calm down Arthur, he still has ten minutes. He’s going to make it.” Francis couldn’t believe that he was giving up a chance for hanky panky under a firework lit sky to hang out with Arthur Kirkland. Unless Arthur was up for it. Which he wasn’t. Francis has already checked.

“10 minutes!” Arthur yelled. “He’s had 10 hours and nobody has heard anything from him.”

“Look, there he is!” Thankfully Gilbert had arrived before Arthur had an aneurysm. “But where is the gift?”

“Matthew!” Gilbert called out, running to the beach of the manmade lake the camp had been situated on. “I’m so glad I caught you before time ran out.”

“Yeah we wouldn’t want you to lose your game.” Matthew felt a little bit annoyed but it was to be expected.

“That would never happen, I’m Gilbert Beilschmidt.” Which apparently meant that he was very good at finishing things at the last possible moment to still succeed. “But that’s beyond the point.”

“Well, where is the big gift? I was kind of expecting something extravagant.” Did he maybe leave it at the cabin? Matthew felt incredibly anxious about what he might have received, he didn’t have any more room in his luggage to take something big back home.

Instead he was handed an envelope. “Here.”

“What is that? Where is the present?” Arthur whispered to Francis. While Francis was a bit better at playing it cool, he too was a bit confused about what Gilbert was doing. “I wish I could hear what they are saying.”

“Let me get Antonio over here he’s great at reading lips.”

“Open it.” Gilbert pushed. Matthew opened the envelope. He pulled out a piece of paper with the words “boarding pass” written on the top. “You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Central Park in the winter. Your brother said that you like ice skating and the always have a huge rink in the middle of the park.”

“You bought me plane tickets?” Matthew was certainly surprised.

“Yeah, it’s for winter break. I got tickets for the rest of your family too of course. I ran it by them first. But even though you’re obviously coming back to camp next year it would kind of suck if I had to wait an entire year to see you again. There is a caveat though, I understand that you will have a lot of stuff to do with your family but you will have to at least spend an entire day with me.”

Matthew was speechless. It wasn’t the physical gift that was really touching, it was the meaning behind it. Matthew had certainly had fun with his friends at camp- but it was just for his time at camp. Sure everyone always says “yeah let’s keep in touch” but it’s usually a hollow statement. He may have been reading too much into it but by Gilbert going out of his way to get him to come hang out with him, it was something that he had never experienced before. 

“Gilbert, this is. . .” Amazing. Wonderful. So uncharacteristically sweet. There were so many things that Matthew could say but he had trouble getting them out. He felt something wet on his cheek. 

“Oh my god Matthew are you crying?” Did Matthew not like the gift. For once in his life Gilbert felt a bit unsure.

“Oh my god is he crying.” Arthur’s whisper was a bit too loud to actually be considered a whisper. “I’m going to fucking murder Gilbert if he hurts him.” 

“Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry, it’s just. . . nobody has really gone so far out of their way to hang out with me.” Matthew wiped his eyes on his sleeve. 

“Oh here, let me.” Gilbert grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and personally wiped the tears from Matthew’s eyes.

“Is that an embroidered handkerchief?” Matthew giggled as he tried to ignore his hastening heartbeat. “That’s so fucking pretentious.”

“I guess it is.” Gilbert followed suit, putting the handkerchief back in his pocket without breaking eye contact with Matthew. Their faces were really close. Almost too close, yet at the same time not close enough.

“Oh my god he’s going in for the kill!” Arthur narrated, grabbing both Antonio and Francis in excitement.

“Nice save bro!” Francis was going to have to take notes on the handkerchief move. It seemed pretty effective.

“And right when the fireworks are starting.” Antonio added.

Gilbert began to lean in when he was suddenly interrupted by a shrill voice. “Oh Matthew! I’ve been looking all over for you”

Matthew and Gilbert jumped apart. Standing in front of them was Anna Sophia Hughes, fresh from her performance as the special guest at that night’s festivities. Matthew realised what he had just almost done. “I’m sorry, you have?”

“Yeah I have!” She responded as if it wasn’t a ridiculous statement to begin with. “You know Lili Zwingli, right?”

“Yeah we have experimental biology together, why do you ask?”

“Well I’m shooting a music video on Wednesday and she told me you’re a pretty good guitar player. I need some extras and came to ask you to join me.”

“I’m sorry but what makes you think that I’m at all suited for that sort of thing.” And Lili didn’t seem like the type to hang around Anna Sophia.

“I have a good eye for these kind of things. So you’ll do it? That’s wonderful.” Matthew tried to remember when in the past couple moments he agreed to do her music video but failed to do so.

“Hey, um we were kind of talking here.” Gilbert butted in, a little confused about why Anna Sophia was talking to Matthew and really confused about what he was planning on doing if he had actually leaned in all the way.

“Sorry, this shoot is A-list only and since you unceremoniously dumped Isabella you’re off the A-list and any list that gets you into my parties.” Anna Sophia was such a good friend. At least for the time being. She grabbed Matthew’s arm. “Now if you excuse us I have some people for you to meet Matthew. You’ll love it.”


	13. Never Been Kissed

“What the hell was that!” Arthur was furious. Absolutely furious. Everything had been going so well, they had gotten so close but, then Anna Sophia had shown up and ruined it all. 

“Could she not tell that it was a romantic moment? Mon dieu it’s like she knew how much Elizaveta wanted them to get together and decided to ruin it all.” In all reality Anna Sophia had a hard time looking past her own agenda to catch a glimpse of trivial things such as other people’s feelings.

“I think we have bigger issues than just that.” Antonio hated to be the bearer of bad news, but an “almost” moment wouldn’t cut it, and if history had anything to say about it then one step forward usually led to two steps back. “If you thought things were awkward before things are going to be even worse now.”

“Well we can’t give up now, we’re too far in!” Arthur was officially freaking out. If he had ended up making things worse for Matthew it would have just been too much for him to handle. 

“Arthur, I think we need to call in the big guns.” Francis had already brought out his phone to send out an SOS message.

“We are the big guns!” Despite the fact that Arthur was actually shouting, he could barely be heard over the fireworks which was usually a good thing. For such a small body he had a very loud voice.

Francis put his phone down for a second. “You make it way too easy to make a sexual innuendos. I won’t be able to hold myself back.”

“I know you have it in you to think about something other than your penis. Can you focus on the task at hand?”

“You overestimate me Kirkland.” Francis smirked. “But I already sent out the SOS. We’ll have what we’re looking for soon enough.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ever since the almost kiss on Saturday, Matthew and Gilbert had found every excuse in the book to avoid each other. Matthew had a lot of studying to do and Gilbert had social obligations. Matthew took every chance he could to hang out with Arthur and Kiku and Yao. Gilbert spent a lot more time at the gym. And during their Tuesday dance classes, they found other partners for the day. Wednesday was the music video shoot and while it wasn’t Matthew’s first choice in daily activities at least he could use it as a distraction. And he could really use a distraction.

“Alright so I’m giving the music video sort of a 1980’s theme.” Anna Sophia announced as everyone walked into hair and makeup. “I know most of you have already been prepped in dance rehearsal but I just want to go over the timeline of the day. I have individual itineraries for everyone telling you where to be and when.”

Matthew looked at the packet given to him. He wasn’t a huge part of the video. Or at least he didn’t think he was. He actually couldn’t tell anything at all from the itinerary. “Excuse me, um, Anna Sophia- I’m so sorry but I’m not exactly sure what my role is in this. Maybe there was a mistake.”

“Oh there was no mistake.” Anna Sophia had already been through hair and makeup and was now enjoying some micromanaging before the cameras started rolling. “Have you ever seen the movie Heathers? Cult classic film starring Winona Ryder. It was the original Mean Girls.”

“Yeah I’ve seen it.” One time when he was sick Alfred had rented a bunch of 80’s movies to marathon together. Matthew had said he wanted to watch some classics and in Alfred’s mind the 80’s was as classic as it gets. It was the thought that counts and if Matthew hadn’t have had a nasty case of the stomach flu, it would have been a fun day.

“I want you to be someone like JD. Cool and mysterious, not abiding by the rules of society. The kind of guy who will recite poetry and Shakespeare and just make the ladies swoon.” Anna Sophia had never met a theme that she didn’t love. If her music video was going to be half as good as her parties back home then she could give Paris Hilton a run for her money.

“He also killed a bunch of people and tried to blow up the school but I guess cool and mysterious works too.” Matthew said under his breath. “I’ll try my best”

“That’s all I can ask for.” Time for her to turn on the charm. Anna Sophia swept her hair to one side, revealing the nape of her neck which was apparently supposed to be appealing. Matthew didn’t notice. “I’m sure you’re going to do a great job. All you have to do is sit there and let me do all the work.”

“Is that all?” Matthew was relieved. If all he had to do was sit there and blend in then that was something he was great at doing. 

There was no sign of lust in his eyes or even awkward attraction. He just looked plain awkward. No one ever turned down Anna Sophia. Not her father’s young business partner, not her ex best friend’s boyfriend, and certainly not some nobody from Minnesota. But before she could continue with seduction Matthew was called over to makeup and she was dragged off to address some other issue before the shoot started.

As Matthew was sitting in the makeup chair letting some strange woman have her way with his appearance- no one had told him that he would be wearing so much makeup but I guess that was just common knowledge- he did exactly what he didn’t want to do and let his mind wander.

What had happened that night with Gilbert? Or rather, what would have happened if Anna Sophia hadn’t interrupted them. Matthew decided to try and look at it calmly and logically. Maybe he had something in his hair and Gilbert was reaching for it. That’s a perfectly normal thing for two heterosexual male friends to do. Even if Gilbert wasn’t strictly speaking heterosexual. Somehow that didn’t seem correct.

A kiss was still the most logical explanation. Matthew suddenly got quite embarrassed. Gilbert had probably kissed tons of people but Matthew had never been kissed once. What if Gilbert had kissed him and he had just frozen up. Or worse, what if he kissed Gilbert back and it was really bad and Gilbert had decided that he didn’t like him anymore. 

Why was Matthew so concerned about Gilbert liking him? At least “liking” him in that way. But shouldn’t he not want him to “like” him in that way? It would make it a lot easier if Matthew didn’t like him. What was it about Gilbert that he could like. Certainly he was attractive, but a lot of people were attractive. He was kind of funny, in a self centered “I didn’t mean to be funny but I was so I’m going to roll with it” kind of way. No one would deny that he was a bit of an asshole at best but he could also be really sweet. Matthew felt differently when he was around him. He didn’t feel super out of place or awkward or like everyone secretly wished that he would go away. He felt-

Dear God Matthew totally liked him. As much as he could try and deny it and try he did it was inevitable. He had a crush on Gilbert Beilschmidt, his male roommate and the person he was sent there to babysit. Could he have chosen a worse person for a first crush? It was like his heart had heard all of the of the sarcastic remarks that he had made about Alfred’s numerous great “loves” and decided that they would get back at him big time. No one must ever know.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arthur, Antonio, and Francis walked into an office at the center of camp. All the lights had been dimmed and the curtains on the window had been drawn so the only real source of light was a lamp on the desk in the middle of the room. Behind the desk was a giant office chair with it’s back to the door.

“So you’re here because you need my help.” The chair turned around. In it sat Lovino Vargas. Somehow he had gotten ahold of a small kitten and was stroking it in order to recreate the feel of one of his favorite scenes from one of his favorite movies.

“Um, yeah.” Francis was always one of theatrics but this was a bit much even for him. “We sent you the text message.”

“I received your message.” Lovino continued in his role. “But my help doesn’t come at cheap.”

“Oh my god Lovi! You look so cute playing the Godfather!” Antonio cheered, completely ruining the scene that Lovino set up.

“Antonio, not now.” Lovino tried to salvage what was left of his attempt. “And I do not look cute. I’m manly as fuck and super intimidating.”

“You sure are.” Francis chuckled.

“Don’t patronize him Francis we need his father’s help for plan D in case the other two plans fall through.” Having already had plan A fail they wanted to have some options and while the president of the camp could be a tough cookie, he would do anything if his “adorable” sons asked him. “We should have asked Feliciano.”

“Actually this is plan E, we already have a plan D.”

“I already told you we’re not making a Francis/Arthur sex tape and posting it online!”

“We don’t have to post it.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“And yet you still want my help.”

Lovino cleared his throat. “You come into my house, on the day of my daughter’s wedding and ask me to ask for special treatment from my father for money.”

“Lovi, you’re not making any sense.” Antonio groaned. While Lovino had made him watch the Godfather with him before on multiple occasions, he usually fell asleep near the beginning and knew more about the concept than the actual story.

“What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully. If you’d come to me in friendship, then the boy you’re trying to hook up with his roommate would be dating this very day. And if an honest man like you should make enemies, they’d be my enemies.” Lovino had never fallen asleep when watching the Godfather and could almost recite it back to you if you asked. Or if you didn’t ask like in this situation.

“You want to talk about enemies.” Arthur could finally get on the same page. “Let’s talk about Anna Sophia.”

Lovino stopped. He had his own personal grudge against the camp’s self declared queen bee which he had until this day never spoken to anyone. Even Antonio who seemed to know everything about Lovino, even the most intimate details, had no idea why he hated her so much. “Go on.”


	15. Finally

“Matthew go home.” It was Friday night and Matthew had spent the past couple days avoiding his cabin and Gilbert like the plague. That meant that Arthur had been seeing a lot of him and as much as he enjoyed the presence of his friend, it was getting a little pathetic watching him try to hide out there all day.

“But check out this cool youtube video first.” Arthur had watched so many youtube videos in the past week he considered buying youtube only to crush it’s existence so he would never have to see another video of a baby lion meeting it’s father or a proposal flash mob or obscure foreign music video ever again. 

“No Matthew. We have class at 8 am and I would like to actually get some sleep tonight.” Not to mention Arthur had a big day ahead of him and, unbeknownst to him, so did Matthew. “You should go back to your cabin. Don’t you have a billionaire to babysit?”

Matthew jumped at the mention of Gilbert. He felt incredibly guilty neglecting his job, but honestly Gilbert hadn’t been an issue lately in that aspect. He had spent a lot of time focusing on his music which was a lot less pleasant than it actually sounded. Matthew didn’t know that it was even possible for a human to play drums for 24 hours straight but either Gilbert had proved him wrong or his first crush had just gotten a lot weirder than he anticipated. “I guess. I’ll just have to show it to you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you can show it to me after dinner.” Arthur was almost pushing Matthew out the door at this point.

“Wait dinner? I thought we were going to spend the night in. Watch a movie. Play some board games.” Matthew didn’t really want another night out on the town.

“I know but I already made the reservations. It’s just a couple of friends, just you, me, Yao, Kiku, Francis-” Arthur started.

“Francis?” Matthew interrupted. “You two have been spending a lot of time together is there anything you want to tell me?”

“Believe me, Francis is nothing more than an unfortunate circumstance.” Arthur risked giving away his intentions but he would be plan or not it would be a cold day in hell before he let anyone get away with implying that he and Francis were. . . romantically involved. “Can we just do this? I already promised them I would go and it would be nothing without you there.”

“I guess, but we get to hang out afterwards.” Matthew was really bad at saying no to things. It wasn’t necessarily that he didn’t want to go, but an upscale dinner at an upscale restaurant wasn’t going to help him forget about his upscale love interest.

“Great, so I’m going to meet you there, I have something to do beforehand.” Which wasn’t entirely true. “But if you still want to hang out afterwards if you want.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While he wouldn’t admit it, Matthew was secretly a bit proud of himself for being able get himself all dressed and in a cab to the city without anyone’s help. He even learned a new way to tie his tie because apparently his basic four-in-a-hand not was not going to cut it in the big city. But when he got to the restaurant and asked for the table under the name “Bonnefoy” the table was surprisingly small. Also empty.

Matthew immediately felt sick to his stomach. Was this a joke? Were they just pretending to be friends with him this entire time and were now just going to stand him up in order to humiliate him. He also couldn’t afford to get an entree at this restaurant and cab fare. It was a mistake going to the restaurant. It was a mistake going to camp. It was all just a mistake.

“Matthew?” His thoughts were interrupted. “Where is everyone else?”

It was Gilbert Beilschmidt.

Of course it was fucking Gilbert Beilschmidt. Despite his best efforts to be annoyed by the sudden German invasion, his heart began to beat at a rate that was probably faster than what was healthy. He shoved all his potential giddiness down in the special place when he hid all of his emotions that he didn’t want to feel. Maybe he could fit it in between Alfred’s middle school choir concert and the entirety of 3rd grade.

Gilbert took a seat. He was there and he was hungry. “Well we might as well eat. Last one here takes the entire bill.”

“Hate to break it to you but it looks like we’re the only ones coming.” Matthew responded as he received a text message from Arthur apologizing that he wasn’t going to make it. This was clearly a set up to make him talk to Gilbert.

“Well then I guess Dad’s credit card it is.” Gilbert replied nonchalantly. It had been a week since the almost-kiss and it was probably time to get over the awkwardness between the two of them. 

A waiter came by with a bottle of wine that looked very expensive. “This was purchased for you by a Francis Bonnefoy.” He poured two glasses of wine. “Can I get you anything to start.”

Matthew looked at the menu in confusion. There weren’t any prices listed on the menu which was concerning and in terms of appetizers he didn’t exactly know the difference between a canape and hors d'oeuvre. Salad seemed safe. “Could I, um, get the house salad to start?”

Gilbert ordered too and the waiter left. They sat in awkward silence for a little while. Matthew stared at his wine, unsure of what to do. He took a large sip and started coughing. “It’s a bit dry.”

“It’s sort of an acquired taste.” Gilbert chuckled softly, diffusing some of the tension. “Try a small sip first.”

“Why are they even serving us alcohol. They didn’t even ask to see our ID’s.” Matthew had had some beer and cheap wine in the past and even drank a little last time he went to dinner with Gilbert but really wasn’t a heavy underage drinker. 

“At an expensive place like this they aren’t going to risk offending someone by carding. Moreover if someone is able to afford a place like this when they are under the age of 21, they probably aren’t too concerned about getting a minor.” What Gilbert said made sense. It seemed like with a little bit of money you could get away with anything, granted what Gilbert said wasn’t “just a little bit.”

The tension began to defuse after that exchange. It was almost as if Matthew forgot that he was supposed to be nervous. Gilbert, on the other hand, felt a weird sensation that he hadn’t ever really felt before. He’d been grappling with his feelings too since Matthew had been absent, and as the dinner progressed, he realized that the things he would normally find annoying about Matthew were just completely endearing. Matthew may have snorted when he laughed but it was one of the most genuine laughs Gilbert had ever heard. He may have winced with every sip he took of the wine but he never stopped trying to acquire the taste. And even when he wouldn’t shut up about things Gilbert in all honesty did not care about, the way his eyes sparkled made it so Gilbert couldn’t look away.

He was smitten. 

When they left the restaurant they found a limo already waiting for them to take them to anywhere you want in the city. “Hey Matthew, have you ever been to Central Park?”

“No, I haven’t.” The question came as a bit of a shock. He had assumed that Gilbert would just want to go back to camp. 

“Driver, take us there.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew and Gilbert strolled down a path wordlessly. They couldn’t stay too long because it was getting late. There were so many thoughts running through each of their heads that they were unable to put into words. So they just walked silently down the path, waiting for someone to break the silence.

“Matthew.” Gilbert broke first. He wasn’t very good at stuffing his feelings down. At least not without a single malt first. But despite the large bottle of premium cabernet sauvignon he had polished off, he was the perfect mix of sober enough to feel his feelings but tipsy enough to lack the common sense to keep them to himself.

“Yes Gilbert.” They had stopped walking. Matthew had a bad feeling about this.

“Listen, I have something I have to say and it may make our relationship going forward a little bit awkward but I just have to get it out.” Matthew had a really bad feeling about this. “I’m sure that you’ve heard that I know my way around a bedroom. I mean I’ve had my fair share of affairs and I’m only 16. But um, I have never really, y’know, felt like I wanted to be with someone outside the bedroom. In a relationship kind of way.”

“You don’t need to explain.” Matthew’s voice shook a bit. Clearly what Gilbert was trying to tell him was that he could tell that Matthew had feelings for him but he wasn’t interested in returning them.

“No I do.” Gilbert grabbed Matthew by the arm but quickly released it. “Shit, what I mean by that is. . . you’re different. Like you’re way different than everyone I’ve ever met. You don’t care that I’m Gilbert Beilschmidt or that my dad has enough money to buy out Manhattan. You don’t care that I’m probably the sexiest person alive or that I’m insanely talented.”

“Modest too.”

“You aren’t from this world. . . but you’re not intimidated by it.” Gilbert paused. “You don’t even know how amazing you are Matthew that even the great Gilbert Beilschmidt sometimes just sits in awe and wonders how you even exist. And I’m probably am ruining everything by saying this but I like you in a way that I have never liked anyone before. You aren’t just one of the bros like Antonio and Francis, or someone I just want to have a one night stand with like- well we won’t get into that. You’re the kind of person I can see myself with- like with with. In a romantic sort of way. Shit this is getting out of hand. Fuck, what I’m saying to say is. . . I really like you Matthew.”

What.

Matthew must have heard wrong. There was clearly no way that Gilbert had just said that he liked him. That was ridiculous. Gilbert Beilschmidt. . . liking him. Except those were the words he had said. Matthew’s mind kept them playing on repeat. He had to say something. He had to respond somehow, even if he had simultaneously forgotten every word in the English language.

“Yes.” He spoke without even thinking. It didn’t exactly fit in the context. Shit he needed a follow up. “I mean, I feel the same way. Like not the exact same way because what you said was really specific and articulate and I can’t do that right now but. . . I mean I think I like you too. No, I mean I really really like you  
a lot.”

“Then let’s see where this will take us.” Throughout the entire confession both boys had avoided eye contact but were now looking at each other straight on. “We don’t have do anything serious like sign a prenup or change our relationship statuses on facebook but. . . I’d like to take you out on a date some time. Well another date.”

“I’d like that.” Matthew still wasn’t quite processing things but as far as he was able to understand another date with Gilbert would be really nice.

“Now let’s get back to camp before our friends burn down the place in an attempt to get us together.” Gilbert joked.

Matthew looked genuinely concerned. “You don’t think they would actually do that do you?”

Gilbert paused, thinking about what he had just said. “Yeah we need to get back to camp now.”


End file.
